With time ticking down on President Biden’s term and Donald Trump’s return to the White House imminent, Senate Democrats are launching a relentless push to confirm a slate of Biden’s judicial nominees. The goal: secure as many judicial appointments as possible before the Senate flips to Republican control on January 3, avoiding a scenario where Trump could fill vacancies and shift the federal bench further to the right.
In a pivotal move, the Senate confirmed former prosecutor April Perry to a federal district court seat in Illinois with a 51-44 vote, marking the first judicial appointment since Trump’s November 5 victory. But Perry’s confirmation is only the beginning. Senate Democrats are advancing another 30 nominees awaiting their fate in committee or on the Senate floor, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowing to confirm “as many as possible.”
Under Biden, the Senate has already confirmed 214 judges, a record the administration has championed for its emphasis on racial and gender diversity—two-thirds of Biden’s confirmed judges are women and racial minorities. However, with Trump expected to seize any opportunity to make his own judicial mark, Democrats face mounting pressure to wrap up confirmations swiftly.
Meanwhile, conservative voices aligned with Trump, including Elon Musk and Mike Davis of the Article III Project, have amplified calls to halt Biden’s judicial nominations, labeling them “activist” and a threat to national stability. Echoing their stance, Trump urged Senate Republicans to grind the confirmation process to a halt, declaring on social media that Democrats are “looking to ram through their Judges.”
While Democrats currently hold a razor-thin 51-49 majority, internal hurdles remain. Senator Joe Manchin, who caucuses with Democrats, insists he won’t support any nominee lacking bipartisan backing, and vital legislation to avoid a government shutdown could strain the Senate’s calendar. As Biden’s team pushes for “every possible nominee,” time will reveal whether the outgoing administration can cement its judicial legacy or cede ground to a new Republican era on the bench.
