Democrats race the clock to approve President Joe Biden's judicial nominees
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is keeping the Senate in session into the evenings for votes on judges. Credit: Getty Images/Andrew Harnik
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on two New York nominees and four others President Joe Biden has chosen for judgeships, as Democrats use their last few weeks in the Senate majority to try to fill as many judicial vacancies as they can.
Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have tried for the past four years to match or even pass former President Donald Trump’s record during his first term of 231 confirmations of district and circuit judges — and separately three Supreme Court justices.
Since Biden took office, the Senate has approved 220 of his district and circuit court nominees — and one Supreme Court justice — and now has eight more nominations on the path to confirmation as soon as this week.
If those nominees win Senate approval, Biden would have appointed almost as many judges to the courts as Trump, falling about six short — and would ensure that Trump would have fewer vacancies to fill during his next term.
Trump took notice on Wednesday.
"The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door," he posted on X. "Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!"
Judges in the district and circuit courts issue the vast majority of judgments in a full range of legal cases as they interpret the law and Supreme Court rulings, making decisions that affect Americans’ everyday lives.
Trump’s confirmed district court judges have turned out to be more conservative in civil rights, civil liberties, labor and economic regulation cases than the judges chosen by either party since the 1960s, according to a quantitative study published in CQ Press.
Biden has nominated more diverse judicial candidates — more women, people of color — and more defense and civil rights attorneys than any other president as he and Senate Democrats sought to rebalance the ideology and composition of federal judges, an analysis of Federal Judicial Center data shows.
Schumer has made the courts a priority this week, keeping the Senate in session into the evenings for votes on judges and drawing Republican criticism and calls for him to instead work on must-pass government funding and the National Defense Authorization Act.
"But we’re not done. There are more judges to consider and confirm," Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "We’re going to spend the rest of this week and the rest of this year focused on confirming them."
On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold votes on former Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-Utica) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Coombe to be judges in the Northern District of New York.
The committee also is set to act on four other Biden nominees to serve as district court judges in New Mexico, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Alabama. Those nominations then will be placed on the calendar for possible votes in the full Senate this year.
Democratic presidents have appointed the vast majority of federal judges in New York.
They appointed 41 of the 52 currently active judges in the four federal judicial districts in New York state. In the Eastern District of New York that covers Long Island and parts of New York City, they have appointed 12 of its 16 judges.
On the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes New York, Connecticut and Vermont, the split is closer: Democratic presidents appointed seven of the judges and Republican presidents named six of the judges.
Trump could have as few as one vacancy to fill on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals over the next four years, according to an analysis of when current active judges become eligible to retire by Russell Wheeler, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who tracks judgeships.
Wheeler determined 63 current judges on the 11 circuit courts across the country would become eligible for retirement and potentially create vacancies for Trump to fill. The one potential retiree on the Second Circuit was appointed by a Republican.
Wheeler, who did not estimate district court vacancies, warned his analysis is a rough estimate of appellate court vacancies and that those judges might not retire and others might leave the bench.
But Trump likely will not have as many vacancies to fill as he did in his first term.
Robert Luther III, an associate counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office, offered his estimate in a conference held by the conservative legal group Federalist Society last week.
"President Donald Trump isn't going to have anywhere near the vacancies we had in 2017. We had 108 vacancies on Day One," Luther said.
"I've studied the data, and realistically, that 108 number that we had in 2017 is probably pretty close to the number of nominations President Donald Trump will be able to make over the entirety of his term," he said.
"If the Republicans keep the Senate," Luther said referring to the 2026 midterms, "maybe a few more, maybe 120 in total."
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on two New York nominees and four others President Joe Biden has chosen for judgeships, as Democrats use their last few weeks in the Senate majority to try to fill as many judicial vacancies as they can.
Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have tried for the past four years to match or even pass former President Donald Trump’s record during his first term of 231 confirmations of district and circuit judges — and separately three Supreme Court justices.
Since Biden took office, the Senate has approved 220 of his district and circuit court nominees — and one Supreme Court justice — and now has eight more nominations on the path to confirmation as soon as this week.
If those nominees win Senate approval, Biden would have appointed almost as many judges to the courts as Trump, falling about six short — and would ensure that Trump would have fewer vacancies to fill during his next term.
Trump took notice on Wednesday.
"The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door," he posted on X. "Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!"
Crucial appointments
Judges in the district and circuit courts issue the vast majority of judgments in a full range of legal cases as they interpret the law and Supreme Court rulings, making decisions that affect Americans’ everyday lives.
Trump’s confirmed district court judges have turned out to be more conservative in civil rights, civil liberties, labor and economic regulation cases than the judges chosen by either party since the 1960s, according to a quantitative study published in CQ Press.
Biden has nominated more diverse judicial candidates — more women, people of color — and more defense and civil rights attorneys than any other president as he and Senate Democrats sought to rebalance the ideology and composition of federal judges, an analysis of Federal Judicial Center data shows.
Schumer has made the courts a priority this week, keeping the Senate in session into the evenings for votes on judges and drawing Republican criticism and calls for him to instead work on must-pass government funding and the National Defense Authorization Act.
"But we’re not done. There are more judges to consider and confirm," Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "We’re going to spend the rest of this week and the rest of this year focused on confirming them."
New York
On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold votes on former Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-Utica) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Coombe to be judges in the Northern District of New York.
The committee also is set to act on four other Biden nominees to serve as district court judges in New Mexico, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Alabama. Those nominations then will be placed on the calendar for possible votes in the full Senate this year.
Democratic presidents have appointed the vast majority of federal judges in New York.
They appointed 41 of the 52 currently active judges in the four federal judicial districts in New York state. In the Eastern District of New York that covers Long Island and parts of New York City, they have appointed 12 of its 16 judges.
On the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes New York, Connecticut and Vermont, the split is closer: Democratic presidents appointed seven of the judges and Republican presidents named six of the judges.
Potential vacancies
Trump could have as few as one vacancy to fill on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals over the next four years, according to an analysis of when current active judges become eligible to retire by Russell Wheeler, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who tracks judgeships.
Wheeler determined 63 current judges on the 11 circuit courts across the country would become eligible for retirement and potentially create vacancies for Trump to fill. The one potential retiree on the Second Circuit was appointed by a Republican.
Wheeler, who did not estimate district court vacancies, warned his analysis is a rough estimate of appellate court vacancies and that those judges might not retire and others might leave the bench.
But Trump likely will not have as many vacancies to fill as he did in his first term.
Robert Luther III, an associate counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office, offered his estimate in a conference held by the conservative legal group Federalist Society last week.
"President Donald Trump isn't going to have anywhere near the vacancies we had in 2017. We had 108 vacancies on Day One," Luther said.
"I've studied the data, and realistically, that 108 number that we had in 2017 is probably pretty close to the number of nominations President Donald Trump will be able to make over the entirety of his term," he said.
"If the Republicans keep the Senate," Luther said referring to the 2026 midterms, "maybe a few more, maybe 120 in total."
'A spark for them to escalate the fighting' A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report.
'A spark for them to escalate the fighting' A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report.
