Scoop: Schumer plots judges blitz in White House call
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President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer meet in the Oval Office in May of 2023. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and senior White House officials are strategizing how to beat former President Trump's record on confirming federal judges.
Why it matters: For Schumer and President Biden, the judiciary is personal. But Democrats have two challenges in surpassing Trump's 234 mark: a clock that's ticking and a Senate that's functionally 50-50 on judicial nominations.
- Biden's top aides, as well as Schumer, know there's no guarantee that they'll control the White House or the Senate in 2025.
- That's adding urgency on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Driving the news: On Friday, Schumer spoke with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and other officials on how to accelerate the pace of judicial confirmations.
- Judicial nominations are one of Schumer's priorities for the next three weeks, along with avoiding a government shutdown.
What they're saying: "Exceeding the previous administration's four-year totals is certainly within reach, despite significant structural impediments, including the longest 50-50 Senate in history and a fraction of the vacancies inherited by the previous administration," Phil Brest, the White House senior counsel in charge of nominations, told Axios.
- "Throughout the coming weeks, we will continue confirming the Biden-Harris administration's well-qualified judges and nominees," Schumer said in a letter to senators over the weekend.
- A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told Axios that Durbin will "continue holding nominations hearings and markups through the end of the Congress."
The intrigue: Since Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) vowed not to support any judicial nominees that didn't have at least some GOP support, Schumer has had to rely either on a Republican absence — or a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris — to achieve a majority.
- But in the next two months, it's unclear if Harris will leave the campaign trail to come back to the Senate to cast any deciding votes. That will get easier after Election Day.
By the numbers: If Senate Democrats confirmed every judge awaiting action in the chamber right now, they would reach 241 confirmations — passing Trump's number.
- Senate Democrats have confirmed 205 lifetime judges under the Biden administration. There are 21 nominees waiting for a floor vote, six waiting for a committee vote and nine awaiting a committee hearing.
- 234 federal judges were confirmed under the Trump administration.
- Democrats are proud that 62% of their confirmed judges are people of color and 64% are women. They have made a point to nominate lawyers with experience in civil rights, public defense and the labor movement.
The bottom line: Dipping poll numbers for the Senate's most vulnerable Democrat means pressure is mounting on the party to confirm as many judges as possible before a new Congress.
- Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is trailing his Republican challenger in the latest poll of his Senate race. If Schumer loses Tester, and doesn't pick up any other seats, he will lose his majority.
