The Democratic-led Senate started its last push to confirm remaining federal judges picked by Joe Biden before their majority ends. In a recent 51-44 vote they approved ex-prosecutor April Perry as Illinois district court judge — showing their rush to fill spots before jan 3rd
The numbers tell an interesting story: while Biden got 214 judges confirmed (most of them being women and non-white candidates) his predecessor Donald Trump managed to place 234 judges during his term. Now theres 31 more nominees waiting in line; sixteen already passed committee review and fourteen need their first look
The American people voted for monumental change
The push faces strong push-back from republicans. Mitch McConnell keeps opposing these picks‚ while some GOP members want to block all confirmations till january. Even democrat-aligned Joe Manchin said he wont support nominees without at least one republican vote
Among key pending picks are these notable names:
* Adeel Mangi - who could become first Muslim appeals court judge
* Ryan Park - North Carolinaʼs top lawyer
* Several other appeals court candidates
The White House points to an interesting fact: after 2020s election republican Senate confirmed 18 of Trumps picks before Biden took office. Now democrats aim to do same thing — get as many judges through as possible before time runs out (but they need perfect attendance to win those votes)