Senate Judiciary Committee Opens Lame-Duck Dash on Trump Judge Picks, With 23 Nominees Pending
Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee began a lame-duck push on November 10 to advance as many of President Donald Trump's remaining judicial nominees as possible before Democrats take control of the chamber in January. The panel voted to advance four nominees and held a hearing for four more the same day.
Senator Chuck Grassley, the committee's outgoing Republican chairman, dismissed Democratic complaints that Republicans were bypassing longstanding committee practices to speed the nominees. Kyle Reardon of Alaska, a district court pick, advanced 16-6 after four Democrats joined Republicans in support. Three other district court nominees, Daniel Ballou for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Richard Bennett for the Southern District of Texas and Courtney Coker for the Northern District of Texas, cleared the panel on party-line 12-10 votes. The committee then heard from four additional nominees, including Todd Butler, nominated to the New Orleans-based Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. More nominees are expected on November 18, including two put forward only after Democrats won the November 3 midterms.
Senator Dick Durbin, the panel's top Democrat, accused Republicans of cutting corners to jam through the nominees, saying the committee was holding hearings in back-to-back weeks, considering nominees less than 28 days after receiving required paperwork, and proceeding before FBI background checks had been cleared by Senate staff.
By Senate counts, 23 of Trump's judicial nominees are pending, 19 for district courts and four for circuit courts; 56 life-tenured judges have been confirmed in Trump's second term. Democrats won the Senate in the November 3 midterm elections and the new Congress convenes in January, leaving Republicans a closing window to clear the backlog.
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国国会大厦参议院一侧（资料图）。图：David，CC BY 2.0，经维基共享资源 / The Senate side of the U.S. Capitol (file photo). Photo by David, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
