‘Now or Never’ — Republican Infighting Complicates Push To Confirm All of Trump’s Judicial Nominees

President Trump is pushing Senate Republicans during the lame duck session to confirm 25 federal judges with pending nominations.It might be Mr. Trump’s last chance to get any new judges on the bench in his final two years in office. “Very important for the U.S. Senate to confirm all of our pending 161 Nominations, including 25 Federal Judges,” Mr. Trump said in a Monday evening Truth Social post.Mr. Trump on Tuesday officially named a group of judicial nominations he had already sent to the Senate. Mr. Trump, in a series of Truth Social posts, said that he was nominating Justice Department official Elliot Gaiser as a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Texas Supreme Court Justice James Sullivan to become a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, and Governor Henry McMaster William of South Carolina’s chief legal counsel, Grayson Lambert, as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.Mr. Trump is seeking to continue to reshape the federal courts with lifetime appointments for as many conservative judges as he can before Democrats take over in January. “It’s now or never. It’s very likely that once the Congress flips, that the Democrats will advance zero of the Trump nominees,” constitutional law analyst Josh Blackman told The New York Sun. “So whoever’s not confirmed by January will likely not be confirmed the next two years, and those seats may remain empty until the 2028 election,” he added.Mr. Blackman doesn’t think all of Mr. Trump’s nominees will be confirmed, however, even while the Republicans are in control.“Well, unfortunately, a lot of it’s Republican infighting,” Mr. Backman said. “Ironically, the least conservative judges will go through and the more conservative ones will get blocked. That’s probably what’s going to end up happening,” he added.Outgoing Senator John Cornyn told reporters he had not decided on whether to support Mr. Gaiser’s nomination.Another Trump nomination, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas Lee Rudofsky, to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, is in jeopardy. Arkansas Republican Senator John Boozman reportedly prefers another judge and has stalled the process. Fellow Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton appears to back Mr. Boozman’s position. The Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday on a handful of nominations but Judge Rudofsky’s nomination was pulled from the agenda. The delay is getting pushback from some Republicans.“Arkansas Judge Lee Rudofsky’s confirmation to the Eighth Circuit would create the first Trump-majority federal appeals court. After losing the Republican Senate, Boozman is now blocking Rudofsky because he wants to negotiate with Democrats for his friend. Arkansans deserve better,” former associate White House counsel Rob Luther said on X.Senator Mike Lee, set to become the top Republican on the committee in January, is also urging Judge Rodofsky’s confirmation, along with the rest of Mr. Trump’s pending nominees. “If the Senate doesn’t do this now, it’s unlikely President Trump will be able to fill these positions in the next Congress,” Mr. Lee said in an X post. The Judiciary Committee chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley, has added a second judicial nomination hearing during the Senate’s two-week November session in order to try to push more nominees advanced. Traditionally there is only one such hearing every two weeks. That would allow the committee to advance more judicial nominees to the full Senate for a vote. There are already 13 other nominees waiting for a vote by the full Senate. The committee on Tuesday advanced the nominations of four judges and will hold a hearing on four more next week.Mr. Grassley is also speeding up the process for nominations. He is holding a hearing next week for Texas Supreme Court Judge James Sullivan. Judge Sullivan’s paperwork was sent to the Senate the day after he lost his reelection campaign to stay on the state’s high court. Under normal procedures, the nomination would not be considered until next year.Mr. Cornyn said he supported the confirmation of Justice Sullivan. “An election result does not diminish a record of ability and integrity,” Mr. Cornyn posted Tuesday on X.Democrats are expected to block all judicial nominations once they control the Senate, and they are expected to deny any potential Supreme Court nomination from Mr. Trump. Justice Samuel Alito has said he plans to remain on the high court through at least the end of this term, but has not made a public announcement on his plans after that.

‘Now or Never’ — Republican Infighting Complicates Push To Confirm All of Trump’s Judicial Nominees

‘Now or Never’ — Republican Infighting Complicates Push To Confirm All of Trump’s Judicial Nominees

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