President Biden is closing in on President-elect Trump's record of appointing 234 federal judges during a single term and Trump isn't having it. "Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line," he said Wednesday as Democrats confirmed two more judges in 50-48 and 50-49 Senate votes. GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was absent for one of the votes and Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana for both. Together, they would've had the power to block the appointments as Vice President Kamala Harris, who holds the tie-breaker vote, departed Tuesday for a vacation in Hawaii, per Axios.
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he was "very angry" at the absences. According to CNN, "several Republicans involved with the Trump transition process have been missing votes." Five were missing Monday as the Senate approved Embry Kidd for the 11th Circuit in a 49-45 vote, per CNN. And six were missing Tuesday as the Senate approved two district court nominees. Vice President-elect JD Vance and Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty had been with Trump in Texas, watching the SpaceX launch. Vance later called a critic who drew attention to his Monday absence an "imbecile" and claimed the GOP absences didn't matter as the absent Democratic Sen. John Fetterman would've shown up if the Republicans did.
This means the Senate has now confirmed 220 Article III judges nominated by Biden, per Reuters. But there are to be "no more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!" Trump informed the GOP on Wednesday, complaining that "the Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door." The White House responded that "there is no excuse for choosing partisanship over enforcing the rule of law," per ABC News. Despite Republicans' plan to slow the confirmations, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said Democrats will "persist" and "get as many judges done as possible," even if it means late nights, per CBS News. (More federal judges stories.)
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