Lame-duck presidents usually don’t get this treatment
Less than two months remain in the Trump administration, and Senate Republicans are doing something not seen in a century — confirming judges and other nominees after their party lost the White House. That norm-breaking rush to get GOP-approved picks through could get tricky, though, if lawmakers continue missing time because of COVID-19.
With only one exception, post-election confirmations of judges nominated to lifetime appointments by a president whose party has lost the White House hasn’t happened since the election of 1896 when William McKinley was elected and the Senate confirmed Grover Cleveland’s picks.
So far in this lame-duck session, the Senate has confirmed six nominees to U.S. district courts and one to the Court of International Trade, starting on Nov. 10 and before leaving town on Nov. 18. Continue reading.