Trump’s Rush to Confirm Judges Meets An Unlikely Obstacle: Republicans

Several Republican senators are complicating President Donald Trump's efforts to confirm federal judges before Democrats take control of the US Senate in January, delaying or derailing nominations in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The resistance has disrupted the White House's attempt to secure lifetime judicial appointments during the final weeks of the Republican Senate majority. While the administration is seeking to fill as many vacancies as possible before the change in Senate control, some Republicans have objected to its selection process and demanded a greater say in choosing candidates for judicial positions in their states.

The disputes involve outgoing Texas Senator John Cornyn and retiring North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. They have raised objections to nominees backed by the White House, including candidates for vacancies in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Their interventions have complicated the confirmation process as Republicans race to move judicial nominations through the Senate before the new Congress begins in January 2027.

Arkansas Nomination Withdrawn After Republican Opposition

The White House withdrew Trump's nomination of Arkansas federal district judge Lee Rudofsky to the St Louis-based US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday after Republican senators raised objections to his appointment.

Arkansas Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton had not endorsed Rudofsky and were believed to favour Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Cody Hiland for the vacancy. Separately, Cornyn and Tillis had privately told Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley that they would vote against Rudofsky in the committee, according to two people familiar with the discussions cited by the Associated Press.

The committee's official records subsequently listed Rudofsky's nomination as held under Committee Rule I.3, rather than recording a vote on his confirmation.

Rudofsky, who was appointed to the federal district court in Little Rock in 2019, said confirmation would not be practical without the backing of his home-state senators.

The Eighth Circuit hears appeals from federal courts in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Reuters reported that, had Rudofsky been confirmed, 10 of the court's 11 active judges would have been appointed by Republican presidents, including six by Trump.

Boozman defended the role of home-state senators in the judicial selection process. In a statement, he said the Senate's role in judicial confirmations was "worth protecting", including the importance of home-state senators' feedback in selecting nominees.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Boozman said, "we talked with other people that were certainly as capable". Cotton declined to comment on the nomination.

Hiland had previously expected to receive the appeals court nomination in August but was instead offered a federal district judgeship, which he declined. The White House later nominated him for the appeals court vacancy.

Oklahoma Nominee Faces Fresh Opposition

In Oklahoma, Republican Senator Alan Armstrong has withdrawn his support for Trump's nominee Zach West, delaying the nomination's progress through the Senate Judiciary Committee.

West, a lawyer in the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, was nominated in August to serve as a judge on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. He had already appeared before the Judiciary Committee and was expected to face a committee vote on Tuesday. However, the committee did not proceed with the vote on Tuesday after Armstrong reversed his earlier support. Its official records listed West's nomination as held pursuant to Committee Rule I.3.

Armstrong had previously returned a so-called blue slip to the committee, indicating his support for West. The document is used by the Senate Judiciary Committee to seek the views of home-state senators on judicial nominees.

Reuters reported that Armstrong's spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that the senator now opposed West's nomination. Tillis also indicated that he supported Armstrong's position.

West needs all 12 Republican votes on the committee to advance his nomination. Tillis's opposition has therefore prevented it from moving forward at present. A White House official, however, said the administration remained confident that both its pending judicial nominees in Oklahoma would eventually be confirmed.

Armstrong said his objections were based on the qualifications of the candidates being considered for the position. He also accused the White House of ignoring alternative candidates recommended by the senators.

Armstrong was appointed earlier this year by Republican Governor Kevin Stitt to temporarily fill the Senate seat vacated by Markwayne Mullin, who left the chamber to become Trump's Homeland Security secretary. Armstrong is due to leave office on November 30, when Senator-elect Kevin Hern is scheduled to be sworn in. It remains unclear whether Hern will support West's nomination.

Cornyn Questions Texas Judicial Appointment

In Texas, outgoing Senator John Cornyn has raised concerns about President Donald Trump's nomination of Justice Department official T. Elliot Gaiser to a federal judgeship in the Dallas area.

Gaiser, who serves as Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, was formally nominated on November 10 to serve on the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. His nomination paperwork had reached the Senate Judiciary Committee two days earlier, Bloomberg Law reported.

Gaiser's nomination came under scrutiny because he had not gone through the bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee process traditionally used in Texas, Cornyn said.

"Trying to air-drop somebody else in at the last minute for the Dallas vacancy that hasn't been through that process, I think, is a concern," Cornyn told the Associated Press.

Cornyn said he and Cruz had previously sent the White House a number of well-qualified nominees who had gone through the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee process.

Cornyn also raised concerns about Gaiser's involvement in Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results. Gaiser had worked as a lawyer for Trump's re-election campaign and advised it on election challenges, according to testimony before the congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

"I think there's a better choice through some of the other nominees that have been thoroughly vetted and are available to serve," Cornyn said. "I certainly want to see us fill the seat."

Senate Republicans Race To Confirm Judges

The disputes come as Senate Republicans attempt to confirm Trump's remaining judicial nominees before Democrats assume control of the chamber in January.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has pushed for an accelerated confirmation schedule, seeking to move as many nominations as possible before the end of the current Congress.

As of Wednesday, 24 of Trump's judicial nominations were awaiting Senate confirmation. During his second term, the Senate had confirmed 57 judges, including 10 appeals court judges, 46 district court judges and one member of the Court of International Trade, according to figures cited by the Associated Press.

The Senate Judiciary Committee said it had moved at the fastest pace for judicial confirmations since the Reagan administration. In a Wall Street Journal opinion article published on Tuesday, Grassley urged Republicans to continue pushing the nominations.

"The stakes are far too high for Republicans to take their feet off the gas now," he wrote.

However, Cornyn and Tillis have argued that the administration must also respect senators' role in the judicial selection process, particularly when nominations concern vacancies in their home states.

Tillis told the Associated Press that his objections were not necessarily about the qualifications of the nominees but about how the White House had handled the selections.

"I'm not making a judgment about the merit of the nominee. I'm calling a foul on a process," he said.

He added: "Don't treat us like a manufacturing facility. Treat us like the US Senate."

Asked whether he was concerned about angering the White House or Senate leadership through his opposition, Tillis said: "I couldn't care less."