First on Fox: Senate Democrats and Republicans reached a late-night deal on judicial votes and confirmations Wednesday, giving President-elect Donald Trump the ability to appoint four key appeals court judges in his second administration.
As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tries to push through more judicial picks for President Biden, Republicans in the upper house have used procedural floor tactics to delay the process. What is the work of, which has led to the passing of many nights.
Around midnight Wednesday, the parties reached a deal that would allow Democrats to vote on four district court judges in exchange for expelling four top circuit court judicial nominees, according to Senate officials familiar with the matter. A senior source told Fox News Digital.
Senate GOP launches Thon-engineered slowdown as Schumer looks to shore up judicial votes
According to the agreement, these four positions will now belong to Trump.
“The Senate has reached a temporary deal to close four judicial nominations tonight and will vote on three more tomorrow,” Schumer’s office said around 11 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (AP/Getty)
Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Eric Schmidt, R-Mo., were both key figures in securing the deal around midnight, the senior source told Fox News Digital.
Schumer’s office and the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Fox News Digital did not immediately provide comment.
The sprint to confirm Trump’s nominees begins in January
The deal was largely driven by a Senate filibuster initiated Monday night by Republicans, led by Rep. Senate Minority Whip John Thune, RS.D.who was recently selected as the next leader of the Republican Senate. The delay strategy plan came in response to Schumer’s efforts to cram additional judicial confirmation votes onto the calendar before the Thanksgiving holiday.
“If Sen. Schumer thought Senate Republicans would simply roll over and allow him to immediately confirm the lifetime tenures of several judges appointed by Biden in the final weeks of the Democratic majority, he was wrong,” Thune said. told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. time
The deal was largely driven by Senate filibustering initiated by Republicans on Monday night, led by Senate Minority Whip John Thune. (Reuters)
Objecting to requests by Democrats for unanimous consent to file culture on Biden’s nominees, Republicans were putting extra votes on the schedule, buying up a lot of time and forcing senators to spend all night in the Capitol.
The source noted to Fox News Digital that the new agreement does not mean Republican Biden is allowing district judges to travel unopposed. GOP senators are still expected to fight and vote against Democratic nominees, as they have done throughout Biden’s term.
Schumer now pleads for bipartisanship to push the railroad through the Democratic agenda.
Ahead of Trump taking office and a new congressional term beginning in January with Republicans in the Senate majority, Democrats are racing to the finish line to advance as many of President Biden’s judicial nominations as possible. As of Wednesday night, Biden’s judicial confirmation count had reached 220 — still trailing the 234 Article III confirmed judges during Trump’s first term.
Schumer’s attempt to fast-track Biden judges during the lame-duck session has already drawn Trump’s ire.
Senator Chuck Schumer speaks after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill September 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Mariam Zahib, File)
He recently took to social media to call for judicial confirmation to be blocked for the remainder of the session, writing on social media Wednesday, “Democrats are trying to walk the courts out the door with radical left judges. Republican senators to show up.” And the line needs to be held – no more judges will be confirmed before opening day!
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“In his first term, President Trump appointed constitutional judges who interpret the law as written. He will do it again,” Brian Hughes, a Trump-Vance transition spokesman, told Fox News Digital in a statement last week. .
