On Tuesday, President-Elect Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door. Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!” Trump will pile up many accomplishments in his second term, but the most consequential will be his improvement upon his already historic transformation of the federal judiciary.
Trump achieved an extraordinary victory this election: he joined Grover Cleveland as the only person to win non-consecutive terms as president. He won more votes — both popular and electoral — than in either of his first two runs. As of the most recent count, he improved his performance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. He defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, the Obamas, the Clintons, and, of course, President Joe Biden, the mastermind of the lawfare designed to take out Trump. The lawfare effort has also fizzled; indeed, Jack Smith is now winding down the phony federal cases against Trump.
Unfortunately, we need to wait two months before Trump assumes office. In the meantime, Democrats control the Senate, and Biden has sent up a slew of hardcore leftist nominees who will produce harmful rulings for decades if they receive lifetime appointments. Even after the election, Biden announced his intent to nominate Tali Farhadian Weinstein to a district court seat in New York. This awful nominee believes, among other things, that noncitizens should be able to vote in elections.
The main problem: Only a majority of senators would be necessary to confirm Biden’s horrible nominees. Democrats have that, in part, thanks to lame ducks like vanquished Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Jon Tester, D-Montana, and election denier Bob Casey, D-Penn., who has not conceded to Dave McCormick despite the Associated Press calling the race well over a week ago. There is at least some question about whether independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona will go along with this, and independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he will support nominees as long as they have one GOP vote. As Trump articulated this past Sunday, Senate Republicans must do whatever they can to end the Biden-Schumer judicial assembly line and stop these nominations from moving forward.
Republicans Must Debate
There are currently four nominees to courts of appeals that have been reported to the Senate floor. One, Adeel Mangi — a deranged Third Circuit nominee — should have no real prospect of being confirmed. As for the other three leftist nominees, Senate Republicans must force Democrats to use up every hour of debate time possible. Currently, Senate rules allow for up to 30 hours of debate, equally divided, for circuit court nominees. While Democrats can waive their time, Republicans can still use up 15 hours on each nominee. While it would be tempting to pat themselves on the back after a rousing election triumph, Republicans must not fall for this foolish strategy. They may want to go back to their home states and take victory laps, but they must remain in Washington to try to prevent as many confirmations as possible.
Several leftist district court nominees await confirmation, having been reported to the floor. These nominees can be debated for only two hours each; however, every hour is precious. Senate Republicans should not yield to demands from Democrats to speed things along and allow smooth confirmations. It is important to remember that, had Vice President Harris won, Democrats would have torched the Senate filibuster and packed the Supreme Court. No one should be fooled by their spurious proclamations of wanting to play nice and act in a bipartisan way. Many other nonjudicial nominations are excellent vehicles for delaying judicial confirmations. No matter how uncontroversial a nominee is, Republicans should require the full use of debate time prior to confirmation.
Ample precedent exists for this aggressive strategy that Senate Republicans should employ. In 2017, Senate Democrats were in the minority and were none too pleased that Trump had beaten Hillary Clinton in a shocking upset. These Democrats did everything imaginable to gum up the works and slow down Trump’s nominees. And rest assured, whether or not Republicans choose to exercise this minority privilege, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats will employ it next Congress.
What’s Good for The Goose is Good for the Gander
Rex Tillerson was President Trump’s first nominee to be secretary of state. Senate Democrats forced a roll call vote on proceeding to executive session to even consider Tillerson’s nomination. Then, they forced a vote called a cloture vote to end debate. Then, after Tillerson’s confirmation, they forced a vote on a motion to reconsider the confirmation vote; then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell successfully tabled their effort. Then, Democrats forced a vote to proceed to the legislative session to approve the journal of proceedings surrounding Tillerson’s confirmation. Republicans should reciprocate; after all, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. And let there be no doubt that, once President Trump assumes office and Republicans take control of the Senate, soon-to-be Minority Leader Schumer will do everything he can think of to make things miserable for Trump’s nominees.
Senate Republicans should not stop at forcing votes on every conceivable issue when it comes to every nomination. They should refuse to approve any legislation, no matter how uncontroversial, by a simple voice vote. They should force the Senate to take roll call votes, including cloture votes. One of the most routine acts Congress does is the naming of post offices. These bills are pro forma; no real debate usually occurs on them. Over the next several weeks, however, Senate Republicans should not even let these elementary pieces of legislation through without delay. Democrats and the leftist media will howl, but the election showed how little influence the media currently has. If Trump survived being called a Hitler admirer, a fascist, a dictator, and many other horrific names, Senate Republicans surely can withstand a few weeks of media wailing about their “obstruction.”
Republicans Must Not Rest
President Biden already has installed more than 40 radical leftist judges to appellate courts. He has put more than 160 on our federal district courts. These radicals can issue nationwide injunctions against Trump’s policies, as just one example of the harm they can cause. While it will not be pleasant, Senate Republicans should forgo any effort to make nice and any desire to return home to rest. Instead, they must stand fast until Jan. 3, when Schumer’s ruinous reign will end, to rescue the nation from more horrendous judicial nominees.
On Nov. 5, the people voted for seismic change. Senate Republicans must respect the will of the people and must not cave to Democrats’ demands for consensus — entreaties only coming about because of the election decimation. As President Trump, his face awash in blood, so poignantly urged by his supporters after his near-assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, Senate Republicans must fight, fight, fight.
Mike Davis, a Colorado resident, is the founder and president of the Article III Project, which defends constitutionalist judges, fights back against lawfare and radical assaults on judicial independence, and opposes judicial and other nominees who are outside of the mainstream.
