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Donald Trump and his MAGA allies are fuming over Democrats’ ability to confirm federal judges in the period before the president-elect returns to the White House in January.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Tuesday, Trump urged Republicans to “hold the line” against President Joe Biden’s judicial picks in the final weeks of the Biden administration.
"No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!" Trump demanded. Though Republicans are set to take control of the Senate next year, Democrats currently hold the majority. So Republicans can slow the process — and have done so — but they don't have the numbers to outright stop the confirmations if Democrats stay united on that front.
Nonetheless, the right-wing rage over this has even placed Vice President-elect JD Vance in the crossfire after Vance, a senator from Ohio, missed a vote to confirm Biden judicial nominees this week. In a now-deleted tweet, Vance bashed a chief executive for Trump adviser Steve Bannon's War Room, who criticized Vance's absence.
MAGA world isn't letting hypocrisy get in the way of complaining about Biden's lame-duck appointments. Republicans confirmed several federal judges nominated by Trump after his 2020 election loss to Biden — one of whom, Judge Aileen Cannon, went on to insulate Trump from accountability by dismissing the federal criminal case related to his handling of classified documents. So Trump is well aware of how valuable these judicial vacancies can be, particularly in a post-election period.
Now, as Democrats race to confirm as many judges as possible before Biden’s term ends, Trump is angry at Democrats for doing the same thing he did. And The Washington Post seems to have homed in on another reason for Trump's rage: If Democrats succeed in confirming judges for all the available vacancies, it will leave Trump with dozens of fewer openings to fill than he had when he entered his first presidency.