GOP's judicial blunder hands gift to 'future Democratic administration'

Sen. Chuck Grassley, pictured at a White House event with President Trump in December, has confronted the president over some of his tariff proposals. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News

On Thursday, it was revealed that the GOP’s last-minute attempt to fix its own mistake may hand a gift to a “future Democratic administration.” According to new reporting by Punchbowl News, with the possible loss of their majority looming, Senate Republicans are preparing to rush through two nominees for judicial seats Trump failed to fill. Should they do so, however, their opponents warn that it may set a precedent in which a future Democratic president is positioned to jam through its own nominees.

As Punchbowl explains, “Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IO) is planning to hold two judicial nomination hearings in November, when the Senate is scheduled to be in D.C. for less than two weeks. Additional hearings are expected during the three-week December session. The goal for Grassley and Senate GOP leaders is to clear as many district and circuit court judges as possible before the year ends and the nomination process resets in January. But this effort will intensify if the Senate majority changes hands after midterm elections. In that case, Senate GOP leaders are likely to make judicial nominees a top priority for floor time.” Should Senate Democrats have the majority next year, it would be much harder for President Donald Trump to fill judicial vacancies. Accordingly, Democratic senators currently have little motivation to approve Trump-nominated judges.

Later on Thursday, after Grassley’s scheme was reported, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), sent a warning to his conservative colleagues. "The Chairman’s plan to hold two back-to-back nomination hearings one week apart without minority consent in November departs from longstanding committee practice and establishes a new precedent that will allow Democrats to process nominees more quickly in a future Democratic administration,” said Durbin’s spokesperson. “And it is important to note that it’s only happening because Republicans mismanaged the calendar by failing to use earlier nominations hearings slots.” In other words, the GOP screwed up by waiting too long, and if they’re willing to break tradition in order to force through their political agenda, Democrats will respond in kind.

While Trump massively reshaped the federal judiciary by confirming a spate of conservative judges during his first term, Republicans have managed to confirm notably fewer during his second. According to Punchbowl, this is because Democrats were careful to confirm judges quickly under President Joe Biden, resulting in fewer seats left open, while there has been significantly less turnover since Trump reentered the White House. According to retired judges who spoke with Bloomberg, Trump’s attacks on judges – such as calling those who rule against him “monsters” – haven’t sat well with many on the bench, which may impact their decision to wait out his term. Grassley is now scrambling to fill what seats he can, telling Punchbowl, “I’m keeping my nose to the grindstone and will continue working through the end of this Congress to confirm President Trump’s highly qualified, constitutionalist judges.”

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