Senate Democrats are expected to vote late Monday night in a desperate effort to confirm as many of President Biden's nominees for federal attorney general before President-elect Trump takes office in January.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told colleagues on the Senate floor Monday that the Democratic majority “continues to work to confirm as many of President Biden's judicial nominees as possible by the end of the year.”
That means Senate votes could go into the wee hours of the night, and even on weekends or during the Christmas holidays in late December.
Senators hope to hold a series of procedural votes late Monday night or early Tuesday to allow Schumer to file closing papers on a number of Biden nominees, setting up a confirmation vote later in the week. was.
Republicans dragged out the process Monday night by forcing Democrats to take lengthy votes on procedural motions that move from the executive branch to the legislative chamber and back again.
The back and forth between Congress and the executive session is typically a routine move in which the minority party unanimously agrees to vote in favor of arcane motions without forcing their colleagues to appear on the Senate floor. be.
Senate officials warned Monday night that senators could have as many as 18 votes to carry out procedural tasks that are often handled with a simple request for unanimous consent.
At 7:32 p.m., Schumer asked for unanimous consent to limit procedural voting time to 10 minutes.
Republicans approved 234 of Trump's nominees to federal courts during his four-year term, but the Democratic-controlled Senate has so far approved only 216 of Biden's Article III nominees. (at least as of Monday afternoon).
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters that a vote could be held over the weekend or during parts of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
“I don't rule out those possibilities, and Mr. Schumer doesn't rule them out,” Durbin said. “I hope the Republican Party is at least as cooperative as we have been with the Republican Party.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a leading progressive, urged Schumer: In a Time magazine editorial “We will use every minute of Congress at the end of the year to get approval from federal judges and key regulators. No one will be removed from office by the next president.”
The Senate voted Monday at 5:30 p.m. to confirm the appointment of Florida's Embry Kidd to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Senators faced 18 more procedural votes Monday night to set up a closing vote later in the week on nine more candidates.
