CBS News: Trump’s judicial confirmation machine to face resistance in Democratic-controlled Senate
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on November 11, 2026.
But seats on the federal bench that remain open come the end of the current Congress are likely to remain unfilled for at least the next two years.
“For the past two years, we’ve seen Trump seeking to stack our courts — district courts, circuit courts — with loyalists to him and not to the Constitution, and I think he’s going to try to continue to do that,” Rachel Rossi, president of the Alliance for Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group, said. “In this moment, when Trump has clearly created this litmus test that there must be loyalty to him and not the Constitution, it’s hard to see how Democrats can support nominees going forward.”
It is not unprecedented in the Senate for the party in control to stymie the nominations of a president in the opposing party. During the final two years of former President Barack Obama’s administration, when Republicans held the Senate majority, just 20 of his nominees to the district and appeals courts were confirmed. Obama’s final judicial confirmation came six months before the end of his second term. Among the candidates that did not get a vote from the GOP-led Senate was Merrick Garland, who was nominated to replace Scalia on the Supreme Court following his death in February 2016.
“What we’ve seen is the federal courts being stacked with extremists and loyalists, and now Democrats have the power to stop the reshaping of our courts in a very dangerous direction,” Rossi said. “I think there’s increasing visibility on what judges mean and what these lifetime seats mean, and the hope is that Democrats use their power and stand against any further reshaping of our judiciary.”