Senate Majority Ensures The Democrats Will Have Many More Judges!

Senate Majority Ensures The Democrats Will Have Many More Judges: After Democrats won back control of the Senate on Saturday, the Senate will continue to confirm President Joe Biden’s judicial candidates for another two years. The next Congress’s legislative agenda is uncertain because Republican support is still strong but House control is still up in the air.

However, Democrats have at least one assurance from the Senate’s decision: they will be able to unilaterally confirm Biden’s picks for judges and executive branch positions. Judges were the greatest prize that came with winning the Senate in the midterm elections, where Republicans were expected to capture the House.

Senator Biden’s judges would no longer receive a “rubber stamp” from the Senate if Republicans regained the majority, according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Additionally, after opposing Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama in 2016, McConnell did not indicate if he would be open to considering a Biden nominee.

Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the Senate, warned that the Senate will keep up its pressure on judges. In a statement, he stated that “Senate Democrats have been committed to restoring balance to the federal judiciary with judges who are professionally and personally diverse.”

“With two more years of a Senate Democratic majority, we will continue to accelerate the confirmation of judges and guarantee that the federal bench more accurately reflects the diversity of America.”

The speed of Biden’s judicial nominations has generally matched that of former President Donald Trump. Democrats have so far confirmed 84 judges, have 57 judicial nominees waiting, and have 117 vacancies that have been made public.

In the future lame-duck session, the party won’t have to rush to confirm more Biden judges. The Georgia Senate runoff in December will no longer be a contest that Democrats must win to take the majority.

But having 51 members — as opposed to continuing to have a 50-50 Senate for another two years — would make a big impact. Democrats had to maintain perfect attendance during the previous two years even split to advance their key party-line initiatives and ensure the confirmation of Biden’s candidates.

Due to the tenuous 50–50 majority, committees had an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, necessitating GOP participation to advance nominations and compelling Democrats to take procedural extra measures on the Senate floor in the event of a deadlock.

Democrats will be able to advance candidates out of committee with a majority of Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) holds his seat in Georgia. Sen. Chris Coons stated, “There is a significant difference between a 50-50 Senate and a 51-49 Senate for the operation of the Judiciary Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee” (D-Del.).

Simply controlling the Senate gives us the power to keep appointing the people who will represent us and write our laws. He continued by saying that the Senate majority will provide Biden with the chance to prove his ability to influence accords on a global scale.

A stronger map in 2024, when Democrats will confront a smaller majority, would be made possible by the additional seat. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) was happy that the party is guaranteed to remain in Democratic hands, with or without Georgia, after observing how the GOP lost control of the Senate majority.

It implies that judges and other Biden nominations can be confirmed. It implies that we can keep tackling the climate, he said. It implies that adults will manage at least one chamber. Fewer oversight hearings of the Biden administration, which Senate Republicans promised to conduct in the run-up to the election, will also result from Democratic Senate dominance.

Additionally, the Senate has the authority to unilaterally veto party-line legislation if Republicans do win back the House. Of course, divided governance will probably result in more ineffective legislation.

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Democratic Senate control ensures a smoother process for President Biden’s Cabinet appointments and judicial picks. Democrats will also control committees and will be able to reject legislation sent over by the House if the GOP wins that chamber.https://t.co/Qb9Uxp99i0

— The Associated Press (@AP) November 13, 2022

When it comes to working with Republicans to pass a larger end-of-the-year spending package, the Democratic majority the following year will be crucial in determining how the party handles the forthcoming lame-duck session.

There will be less pressure to confirm as many nominations as possible. And now the debt ceiling debate is being pushed by several Democratic senators. Sen. Elizabeth Warren urged lifting the debt ceiling when the Senate reconvenes in a New York Times op-ed to “prevent Republicans from holding our economy hostage next year.”

“Dems should be bold in putting Republicans on the defensive, pressing hard as to why they are stymieing much-needed efforts to aid Americans,” she continued. The Senate needs to handle “fundamental issues like the debt ceiling and allocating enough to sustain Ukraine in the near term” as soon as possible because, according to Coons, “2024 politics are very quickly going to get in the way of getting significant things done.”

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