Democrats need to make this known in Georgia. If, after Dobbs, you don’t like what Trump did to the courts you want that 51st vote in the Senate:
The Democratic Party’s stunning hold on Senate control will enable President Joe Biden and his allies in the chamber to do something that has been a low-key success: churning out federal judges without the threat of Republican obstruction.
The Senate majority, inked by a Democratic win in Nevada, gives Biden a clear runway to continue one of his most consequential pursuits: reshaping federal courts with a diverse array of lifetime-appointed liberal judges, including record numbers of women, minorities, former public defenders and civil rights lawyers.
The Senate has confirmed 84 Biden-nominated judges, including Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court and 25 appeals court judges, confirming judges at a faster rate than President Donald Trump before the 2022 election.
“Senate Democrats have been committed to restoring balance to the federal judiciary with professionally and personally diverse judges,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told NBC News on Saturday night. “With two more years of a Senate Democratic majority we will build on our historic pace of judicial confirmations and ensure the federal bench better reflects the diversity of America.”
Trump, in tandem with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, confirmed 234 judges in his four years — including three Supreme Court justices and scores of young conservatives poised to rule on cases for generations. Senate Republican leaders told NBC News before the election that if they took the majority, they would use their power over the floor to compel Biden to send more centrist judges that GOP senators could support.
“This is a major bullet dodged, because it means Biden will have the opportunity to build on what will go down as a signature legacy item for him, which is a true makeover in the composition of the courts if he’s given a full four years of running room,” said Brian Fallon, who runs the courts-focused liberal group Demand Justice. “He won’t just be competitive with Trump over a four-year span with total nominees confirmed, he’ll also have left a lasting mark.”
Like other liberals, Fallon feared that Republicans would have slowed judicial confirmations to a crawl if they took control of the Senate. He said Democrats keeping control means that if a Supreme Court vacancy were to open up, Biden’s nominee would be assured a vote. But he said he doesn’t agree with some liberals who argue Justices Sonia Sotomayor or Elena Kagan should retire so Democrats can hold their seat for longer by confirming younger justices.
That’s a bit much. The only one who’s young than them is Kavanaugh and he’s just 5 years younger than Kagan. Come on now. Let’s not start this. The best way to deal with this is to institute terms for Supreme Court Justices not dog the liberal women on the court to quit. (And yes, yes I know Ginsburg should have quit but she was in her 80s and had cancer, not her 60s.)
The right wingers are not happy:
“Biden promised unity and moderation but has consistently nominated radical judges to appease the liberal dark money groups who helped elect him. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have simply rubber-stamped his picks and I expect that pattern to continue,” said Carrie Severino, the president of the Judicial Crisis Network, a well-funded advocacy group that fights for a more right-leaning judiciary and also does not disclose its donors.
“JCN will continue to use whatever means necessary to highlight Biden’s extremist judges who care more about delivering liberal policy results from the bench than following law,” she said.
Yeah, whatever.
While the current 50-member Democratic caucus has been unified behind Biden’s judicial nominees, a 51st seat for the party could further embolden it. Currently the 50-50 split means the Judiciary Committee is also evenly divided and Republicans can force Democrats to jump through an additional hoop and eat up hours of Senate floor time to secure a vote on a judge. If Democrats hold on to their seat Georgia, they could deny the GOP that option.
Currently there are 76 vacancies on district courts and 9 on appellate courts. That number is sure to grow as more judges retire and open up their seats in the next two years.
Some on the left have pushed Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to end a courtesy known as the “blue slip” that allows senators to block consideration of district court judges in their home state. As a practical matter, that means Democrats currently need Republican sign-off to confirm judges in red states. (GOP leaders eliminated the rule for circuit judges but kept it for district courts.)
Asked by NBC News in September if he would preserve the tradition, Durbin said it has worked for the Senate and he’s “sticking with” it if he remains Judiciary chairman for two more years.\
Bad idea. They should get rid of it. Once McConnell jammed through two illegitimate Supreme Court Justices all these “courtesies” should have been cleared out. There’s no point in it.
The Georgia election is very important because it will eliminate discharge petitions which gum up the works. Having a real majority makes a big difference in how the rules work.