The White House on Monday dismissed President-elect Donald Trump's demand that they put a stop to judicial confirmations during the lame-duck period.
Trump on Sunday took umbrage with the Biden administration ramming through their judicial nominations while Democrats still have the Senate majority until the 119th Congress begins in January. At that point, Republicans will be the majority with at least 52 seats in the upper chamber.
"[N]o Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE," Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Sunday.
On Monday, the White House pushed back.
"Regardless of party, the American people expect their leaders to prioritize the rule of law and ensuring the criminal justice system can function effectively in every state," senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement. "Delaying the confirmation of strongly qualified, experienced judges takes a real-life toll on constituents and leads to backlogs of criminal cases — meaning there is every urgent reason for Republicans and Democrats to continue working together in good faith to staff the federal bench."
Bates pointed out that the outgoing Trump administration pushed through 55 nominees in the lame duck after the 2020 election, won by President Joe Biden.
"There is no excuse for choosing partisanship over enforcing the rule of law," Bates added.
CNN reported Monday that 17 judicial nominees advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee await a floor vote when lawmakers return from recess on Tuesday.
The Democrat-led Senate has confirmed 213 of Biden's judicial nominees, short of Trump's 234 judges during his first administration, CNN reported. Senate Democrats are hoping to take advantage of GOP absences to push through some if not all of the 17 nominees that have stalled out due to resistance from Republicans.
"There is a push across the board from the White House and the Senate for Democrats to show up and do the job they were elected to do," a senior White House official told CNN.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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