Republicans Feud Over Senate No-Shows as Biden Gets ‘Leftist’ Judge Through

A heated feud has erupted within the Republican Party over Senate no-shows, after President Joe Biden successfully pushed through a controversial “leftist” judicial nominee.
With two months to go until Donald Trump becomes president, Democrats are attempting to confirm as many of Biden’s judicial appointments as possible during the lame-duck session.
On Monday, the Democrat-led Senate voted 49-45 to confirm Judge Embry Kidd, who Republicans have described as a “leftist,” to the Florida 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The circuit covers Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. He will be President Biden’s second appointee to the federal appeals court in the area.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in floor remarks that Kidd was “exceptionally qualified,” and noted that the chamber would continue to prioritize moving judicial nominees quickly through the end of the year.
“We’ll keep going,” Schumer said of efforts during the post-election lame-duck session.
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis slammed Republican Senators for not showing up to the vote and allowing another vacancy to be filled by President Biden. “This leftist judge would have been voted down and the seat on the important 11th Circuit would have been filled by Donald Trump next year had Republicans showed up,” DeSantis posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Now, the leftist judge will have a lifetime appointment and the people of FL, AL and GA will suffer the consequences.”
Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project and a Trump ally, joined in with DeSantis’ sentiment. He said the senators need to “show up to work and vote” to “stop Biden’s radical lifetime-appointed judges.”
“These are the worst of the worst, the nominees that could not get confirmed,” Davis said. “Your only job as a Senate Republican is to show up and vote. You’re not required to do anything else.”
Trump also weighed in, posting on Truth Social, “The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door. Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!”
Senators JD Vance (Ohio) and Marco Rubio (Florida), who have recently been appointed to President-elect Trump’s Cabinet, were among those who did not vote. In addition, Republican Senators Bill Hagerty (Tennessee), Mike Braun (Indiana) and Steve Daines (Montana) did not vote. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was the only Democrat to abstain.
While Vance and Rubio have been tapped by President-Elect Trump to hold the roles of Vice President and Secretary of State respectively, they are still able to vote in the Senate until they are sworn into office in January.
Meanwhile, in a now-deleted post, Grace Chong, the chief operating officer for Trump ally Steve Bannon’s War Room, called out Vance and Rubio for not attending the vote, saying: “you guys better show up and do your one fricken job!!”
In response, Vance, who has missed most of the Senate’s votes since becoming Trump’s running mate in July, called Chong a “mouth breathing imbecile who attacks those of us in the fight rather than make herself useful” in a post that has also now been deleted.
“If I had shown up to the vote in question, the nominee would have succeeded 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added. “If every Republican had showed up, Fetterman would have come in and the Democrats still would have gotten their nominee across.”
He continued: “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45. But that’s just me.” Soon after the posts were deleted, Vance appeared in the Senate chamber and voted against a federal nominee to a court in Oregon.
On Tuesday, Steve Bannon, who served in Trump’s first White House and is widely credited with giving him the intellectual framework for the MAGA movement, defended Chong, arguing on his War Room podcast that the president-elect’s Cabinet picks should be working remotely for Trump but should focus on the Senate.
“We could turn over to President Trump, I don’t know, 20/25 judges. Think about what that would mean in the first 6 months of a second term. And right now we’re on the cusp of Biden having put more judges in, I think over 300, than President Trump. This is a fight worth having and this why it needs to be in the Senate all hands on deck,” he said.
He continued: “It’s got to be fought 24/7. It’s going to take brains and toughness and stamina. People traveling round with the President, even people that are down in Mar-a-Lago understand you’re in transition, very important, but some of it is going to have to be done remotely. Because we need all hands on deck up here.”
However, some Republicans came to Vance’s defense. For example, conservative political activist Charlie Kirk said: “Vance is co-chair of the transition. We NEED him right where he is helping shape incoming administration.”
Newsweek has reached out to Rubio and Vance, as well as Trump’s transition team, for comment via email.
The Senate has confirmed 246 judges to lifetime appointments on the federal bench during Biden’s time in the White House. During the first Trump administration, 234 conservative-leaning judges—including three Supreme Court justices—were confirmed. Two years later, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, which had enshrined the federal right to an abortion.
There are now four other federal appellate nominees still awaiting Senate confirmation: Judges Julia Lipez (1st Circuit), Adeel Mangi (3rd Circuit), Ryan Park (4th Circuit) and Karla Campbell (6th Circuit), as well as 23 district court nominees pending either floor or committee votes.
If Republicans are united against a nominee, the defection of just two Democratic-aligned senators would be the end of the road.
If the Democrats are not able to confirm Biden’s appointments, Trump could see much of his legislation, including his mass deportation plan, pass through the courts unchallenged over the next four years.