Senate Democrats and Republicans reached a late-night agreement Wednesday, allowing votes on President Joe Biden’s district court nominees while leaving four appellate court vacancies for President-elect Donald Trump to fill. The deal was confirmed Thursday by a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Republicans, aiming to delay judicial confirmations before Trump takes office, had threatened to block several appellate court nominees. As part of the compromise, Senate Democrats agreed to abandon four appellate nominees, including Adeel Mangi, who would have been the first Muslim federal appellate judge.
The agreement frustrated progressive groups, who urged Democrats to confirm as many judges as possible before the power shift. Senate Republicans, supported by Trump, had placed procedural obstacles to slow down the confirmation process in the narrowly divided Senate.
Since the November election, which resulted in a Republican White House victory and a GOP-controlled Senate, Democrats confirmed eight of Biden’s judicial picks, bringing the total to 221. On Thursday, Sharad Desai was confirmed to a federal trial court in Arizona, just before the deal was struck.
The agreement will allow the Senate to vote on seven district court nominees when it reconvenes after Thanksgiving, along with five additional district court nominees advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The four appellate vacancies will now remain open, giving Trump the chance to appoint judges to influential courts. According to a spokesperson for Schumer, the deal exchanged “four circuit nominees — all lacking the votes to get confirmed — for more than triple the number of additional judges moving forward.”
This development leaves key appellate court seats in Philadelphia, Richmond, Boston, and Cincinnati open for Trump’s selections, sparking disappointment among progressive advocates hoping to secure Biden’s nominees before the change in administration.
