Republicans push to confirm about two dozen Trump judges in lame‑duck

newsNov 12, 2026273,242

Senate Republicans are pressing an aggressive lame-duck campaign to confirm about 25 of President Trump’s judicial nominees before the Senate flips in early January. The Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved four nominees and sent them to the floor; aides say the full push includes four appeals court nominees and 21 district court nominees and could keep the Senate in session well into December. Senator John Thune, the majority leader until January, said Republicans will “make the most of the time that we’ve got” and remain in Washington to seat as many judges and pass as much legislation as possible. Democrats say they will do everything they can to slow the confirmations, but their ability to block nominees is limited because Republicans can confirm judges if they devote the necessary floor time and secure majority votes. The list includes two Texas nominees added hastily last week, one of them advanced without the usual home-state review after Democrat James Talarico won a Senate seat there, a move Democrats suggested was rushed to install judges before Talarico could act. Republican aides estimate the calendar and floor time required will be considerable, making judicial confirmations a top lame-duck priority for the party and the president.

Aaron Rupar

@atrupar.com

"The 2026 blue wave gave Democrats the votes to block Trump judges for the next two years and, should they recapture the White House in 2028, the power to start transforming the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary. Generational victories, after all, should beget generational consequences."

2475Yesterday

Saint Sherman - The Ultimate Patriot25

Jeffries meeting with Kushner tells us there is a lot of work to do for this to happen.

Louise8

We must block any activity by #Trump to put another person on the #SupremeCourt bench. Keep his attention elsewhere, play his game.

Not a Moderate Democrat6

Expand FUCTUS to 13 and make it truly SCOTUS again, along with term limits and ethics regulations that bite. We must lead the leaders on this crucial demand.

Jon G4

And impeach some of the worst ones the GOP rubber stamped!

Tom Moroney3

And Buttigieg is right, Constitutional Amendments may be hard, but let's do that work. Suggestions on how?

Erick A.3

We still need 67 Senators to get rid of this stain!

Quoting this

𝘞𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 🌎| 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇲🇽 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️3

Reform is the answer. Reform by expanding the court from 9 to 13, and limiting justices to prevent abuse of power like we're experiencing now. Limiting by means of gifts, stock trades, & most importantly, terms to 20 years.

Sean Selvig🗽🇺🇸🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿🇪🇺🇺🇦🇬🇪🇮🇱🇹🇼🇭🇰🇰🇷2

Dems, if you fuck this up, I swear to God...

Dave Long2

My life began under the presidencies of Truman, Ike, JFK & LBJ. Can we please have a return to something similar before I die?

I Travel Like Sound Dog

@chadstanton.blacksky.app

"Takano said he was “walking through all of our options” and said he was frustrated by the GOP posture: “They’re insisting on sending text that’s not been fully agreed to, send it over to the Senate.” The worst place to be in this lame duck session is holding the rulebook on dogs playing basketball

147Yesterday

I Travel Like Sound Dog71

They're going to be doing everything they can to make you look stupid, weak, and ineffectual. The fever is not breaking; they're not "coming around."

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Mhairi Forrest🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🤟🤟🤟10

This is where the Dems need to hire a press spokesperson. The ins & outs of this are difficult to follow. Instead of talking about "trickery" & the rules, they need someone clearly articulating "The GOP just betrayed US military vets & soldiers" over & over again.

floridagal1948.bsky.social6

Dems seem to be asleep at the wheel. Wake up and pay attention! Red army maga are tantrum toddlers in charge....still. Get with the program mr. speaker!

sashaceo.bsky.social3

Why are the Dems sleeping?

Roz.A 2

”asleep at the switch” ? That is two major horrors from lack of dems presence in three days? Mmmmmm “unintentional” does not seem to be the appropriate adjective.

rockmegarden.bsky.social1

Blame the GOP from the top!

AkivaMCohen

@akivamcohen.bsky.social

Dems should not whine about this. They should simply announce that: 1) They will force yeas & nays on every vote, & do whatever else they can to slow this down; and 2) They will expand any court to which Trump appoints a judge in the lame duck by 3x the number of lame duck judges added

1432d ago

Heidi2

That old part thinks that this is the first time senators of an opposing party have stonewalled judicial nominees?? He's delusional.

Chrissel1

I’m *still* holding a grudge over Emil f-ing Bove. We could have had a decent judge. But no. Scary, Knowledgeable, well qualified Muslim got dropped for Festering Pile of FedSoc Excrement.

Dan. Just Dan.1

The best part is "for the first time". Come on. Mitch McConnell is still alive. Right? RIGHT?

Noelle Schultz1

Agree.👍 Don’t even dignify Chuck Grassley’s lies with a response, just take hard actions.

Franklin1

Yeah, no federal appointment hearings/confirmations til January, especially judges. And preferably none until the Judiciary Reform Act of 2027 is passed.

Piotr Wilkin1

Good idea here for @vanhollen.senate.gov :)

Mike Black

@mikeblack114.bsky.social

if you want to make that argument then make that argument, but framing this as a BETRAYAL by FECKLESS SCHUMER letting MORE TRUMP JUDGES GET CONFIRMED WHEN HE COULD HAVE STOPPED IT is ratfucker shit

80Yesterday

Mike Yass27

My favorite bit is that the ratfuckers are blaming *Jeffries* out of pure cynicism

hammancheez but spooky

@hammancheez.bsky.social

Dems You are not moving major legislation past a veto Your job for the next 2 years is three (3) things A) block all trump nominated judges and officials B) pass spending bills in reconciliation with no republican input allowed C) bankrupt as many republicans with lawyer fees as possible

68Yesterday

Scott Dworkin

@dworkin.bsky.social

When the DC bar's discipline office came after Larry Klayman, this sore loser SUED nearly everyone involved. He lost. Now the Supreme Court is done with him. What he told Trump to do about judges: www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/the-people...

46Yesterday

empath75.bsky.social

@empath75.bsky.social

Only if the democrats simply refuse to confirm any Trump judges for two years. The answer has to be “no”. Don’t even hold hearings.

51Yesterday

Van Alan14

I normally hate "you started it" but......uh......they started it? Same deal with gerrymandering. I'm still in favor of banning gerrymandering but they opened this can of worms. Until there is a group decision to stop acting like this and fight fair we use every single card in the deck.

Stephen Raab

@onetruestephen.bsky.social

Is the lame duck good design? Not really Are we stuck with it right now? Absolutely

49Yesterday

🦀 Shawn Morris 🦀

@theshawnmorris.bsky.social

👀 Dems you got 2 years and all you have to do is messaging bill, don’t pass stupid fucking legislation Trump likes, don’t confirm Trump judges, and investigate. You really can do this it is possible

37Yesterday

mcc

@dryad.technology

1. *Will* Democrats play hardball in January? 2. Would obstructionism (ie holding up the stopgap funding bill) mean Republicans can pass fewer bad bills/confirm fewer judges in the lame duck? 3. What is BAAJA, and why do Democrats seem to *prefer* Republicans pass it rather than Ds doing it later?

29Yesterday

mcc22

As a side note, it's very possible there is about to be a very unusual split in the Democratic party. After 2006 there was a split between "red state" and "blue state" dems, but we may be about to see a split with "recently elected" dems on one side and "dems with seniority" on the other

Mona Burns

@monaburns.bsky.social

AP: "Several GOP senators are complicating a WH plan to leave an enduring imprint on the judiciary long after Trump leaves office by throwing up obstacles for a handful of his judicial nominees in the final weeks of their Senate majority: apnews.com/article/dona...

13Yesterday

Tom Carter

@thcarter123.bsky.social

Democrats and Republicans win or lose, we will always have Leonard Leo’s judges deciding our lives. edition.cnn.com/2026/11/12/p...

12Yesterday

Professa Murray

@kalimurray.bsky.social

Grassley is over their trying to calendar votes for 24 Trump judges; snap, snap.

15Yesterday

Paul Guinnessy

@paulguinnessy.bsky.social

And the last paragraph is spot on "The Senate can block any Trump nominee, especially federal judges, for the rest of this presidency. But this requires that elite Democrats govern aggressively rather than cautiously. “You don’t defeat authoritarians by being more reasonable.....”

9Yesterday

Jerry Edwards

@jerryedwards.bsky.social

It's time to play hardball. Block everything the Republicans try to do in the lame-duck that we can block. And when we cannot block, use every procedural trick in the book to slow it down and frustrate them.

5Yesterday

2 sources

nytimes.comRepublicans Begin Aggressive Lame-Duck Push to Install Trump Judges progressivereform.orgLame Duck Permitting ‘Reform’ Bill a Bad Deal - Center for Progressive Reform

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Republicans push to confirm about two dozen Trump judges in lame‑duck

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