During his first term, President Donald Trump appointed 234 lifetime judges to the federal bench. These judges and justices, many of whom received broad support from Senate Democrats in their confirmations, have already done untold harm to our civil rights and rule of law that will last for generations — at least.
We can’t have a repeat during Trump’s second administration; we need to block every judge possible because we already know how unqualified they will be and how harmful they will be to our rights.
Of the harms Trump can and will do over his next four years in office, the judges he appoints will have the most lasting effect. As lifetime appointees, many will serve for decades after Trump’s time in office ends, and their decisions could be in effect even longer than that.
With many conservatives salivating at the thought of judges who are even more conservative, agenda-driven and loyal to Trump than those appointed in the first term, there is no room to give a single nominee the benefit of the doubt.
The fewer Trump judges who are added to the courts, the safer our democracy will be. This is not a moment to “believe in our systems” because we already know Trump is trying to upend or circumvent those systems. This is also not the moment to consider adding much-needed court capacity when that would mean more vacancies for Trump to fill.
This is a moment of resistance. It is no exaggeration to say that lives are on the line, as we’ve already seen from Trump-appointed judge decisions undermining access to life-saving health care, blocking clean air and water protections and separating families.
Given Trump’s record, the starting presumption must be that each and every nominee mirrors his commitment to gutting our rights and dismantling our democratic institutions. Senate Democrats must not compromise on the standards set over the past four years: Our courts, and the country, deserve demographically and professionally diverse judges committed to equal justice.
They must thus use every tool at their disposal to oppose each and every nominee who doesn’t meet that standard. There are bound to be nominees who do not appear to have as much extremism or conservative advocacy in their records as others. That does not mean they are “not as bad” or should garner a single Democratic vote.
Worse yet: Imagine a Supreme Court with a full majority of Trump-appointed justices.
It might not be possible to block these nominations given the Senate’s Republican majority, but that does not mean Senate Democrats should make it any easier for them to get through.
Any confirmation that is delayed could be a future confirmation that is blocked. Senate Republicans have spent the past four years manipulating Senate procedures to stop Biden’s judges. That included denying blue slips to nominees from their own selection commissions and forcing nearly 20 procedural votes in one night to delay what should have been a smooth process to invoke cloture on a slate of judges.
Republicans have set an example, and Democrats must play by the exact same set of rules once used against them. Every tool, even those we might otherwise oppose, must be used to stop or slow down the confirmation of Trump judges.
That means showing up for every vote — both in committee and on the floor — to make sure confirmations can’t just sail through and to force Senate Republicans to secure every last vote for confirmations to succeed.
That means showing up to hearings and asking nominees tough questions about their records and using public platforms to speak out against them.
That means asking questions for the record after hearings and forcing Republicans to carry over nominations for future markups until those questions are answered in full.
That means not making any deals on vacancies to get a few moderate judges in exchange for supporting extreme Trump picks.
That means carefully documenting and transparently sharing what White House consultation on nominations from senators’ home states looks like, if it exists at all, to dispel any false claims of good faith negotiations.
That means using blue slips — which, though problematic, are a tradition Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has said he will maintain on the Senate Judiciary Committee — at every opportunity to prevent unqualified nominations from moving forward.
That means voting against any measure to add seats to the lower courts that could be filled during the Trump administration, because while some courts may be struggling with capacity, they are still better off without Trump judges issuing harmful rulings.
That means using every Senate procedural tool available to delay and block votes on the floor to limit how many confirmations can get through over the course of the term.
That means dedicating resources to finding diverse, highly qualified movement lawyers who will be prepared to fill judicial vacancies under an administration more friendly to the safety and security of all people.
Every single nominee who doesn’t get through is one fewer Matthew Kacsmaryk ready to impose a harmful conservative agenda, one fewer Aileen Cannon who would prop up Trump’s abuses of power, one fewer Neomi Rao who blamed sexual assault survivors for the violence committed against them or one fewer James Ho who stands ready to undermine the U.S. Constitution out of loyalty to Trump.
Worse yet: Imagine a Supreme Court with a full majority of Trump-appointed justices. It could very easily happen, and not a single Supreme Court precedent would be safe.
The stakes could not be higher for our democracy. This will be a time for stalwart vigilance. Every Senate Democrat must stand ready to protect our courts and the very notion of “equal justice under law.”
Keith Thirion is the interim co-president and vice president of strategy at Alliance for Justice. As a contributor to Democracy Docket, Thirion writes about the U.S. Supreme Court, judicial reform and the importance of state courts.
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