Senate Democrats Signal They’ll Work With Trump on Trial Judges

Democratic senators indicated openness, at least initially, to working with President Donald Trump to fill existing or upcoming judicial vacancies on federal trial courts in their home states.

Three district courts in states with two Democratic senators have openings waiting for Trump, and a fourth is scheduled to have one this year. They’re located in New York, California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Democratic senators told Bloomberg Law in interviews that they plan to work with Trump to fill those vacancies, but cautioned that his picks must align with their values. Under Senate tradition, home state members can veto district court nominees. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says he’ll maintain the custom.

“We have to find a way to work with the administration, if they’re willing to ensure that we’re not compromising California values,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said about a Southern California trial court vacancy open since 2021.

The selection process could tee up a battle between Democrats and the White House if they can’t agree, and put political pressure on Senate Republicans in the majority to push the process forward.

There are a “lot of pressure points” at play that could leave Democrats’ authority over their home state judicial vacancies on shaky ground, said Sarah Binder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Senate Democrats also have less political leverage with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority, plus a tie-breaking vice presidential vote.

“It just seems to me, hard to think that they’re going to have enough wavering Senate Republicans that would create much opening for Democrats to throw sand in the gears,” Binder said.

Blue States

The Trump administration inherited a vacancy on the San Diego-based US District Court for the Southern District of California and two on the Manhattan-based Southern District of New York. The California seat has been vacant for over three years, while the New York seats opened in the past month.

Another vacancy opened shortly before Trump took office on Connecticut’s district court, after the death of an active judge. And a seat on the Boston federal trial court is scheduled to become vacant at the end of July. That court’s hearing challenges to Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship.

Republicans also controlled the Senate during the first Trump administration, and Democrats generally were willing to cooperate when it came to finding nominees for home-state courts.

Trump appointed nine judges across New York courts, including four for the Southern District, and one on the Connecticut district court. He also tapped five across California courts. Two seats on the Massachusetts federal trial court remained open through Trump’s first term. Joe Biden filled them.

A spokesperson for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said he’s leaving it up to individual senators to decide how to work with the new administration.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said she has a list of potential contenders “ready to go” for the Southern District of New York and will submit it to the White House “in due course.”

Freshman Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said he’s “open to working with the president and making sure that we have a realistic, reasonable caseload for our judges, and that we fill vacancies.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said they will “have to fill the vacancy” in Connecticut, given how active the late judge, Jeffrey Meyer, was.

Some senators expressed concerns about the kinds of candidates Trump might look to nominate. He’s expected to rely less this time on establishment Federalist Society conservatives, as he seeks judges even further to the right of the ideological spectrum.

Blumenthal said he’s concerned Trump might nominate candidates “whose credentials and qualifications I might question,” but he plans to “hope for the best.”

Many judges Trump previously appointed to blue state district courts had more moderate legal credentials compared to those selected for courts in states with Republican senators.

“We filled vacancies after give-and-take, not always my first choice, but we arrived at candidates acceptable to all sides,” Blumenthal said.

Political Prioritization

Political dynamics hinge partly on how the White House prioritizes judicial vacancies.

More than three-quarters of district judges appointed by Biden were in states with two Democratic senators. Most outstanding vacancies are in states represented by Republicans. Negotiations between the Biden administration and Republicans to fill those seats stalled or never occurred in the run up to the 2024 election.

Of the 39 current district vacancies, 35 are in states with two Republican senators. Seven additional district vacancies are planned, including five in red states.

The Trump administration may choose to prioritize those vacancies first, where the White House will meet less resistance. Democrats have little power to block Trump from filling those slots with his preferred picks.

The administration has shown early interest in the California vacancy. Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California, the court’s most recent chief judge who finished his term in January, said in an interview that he was contacted shortly after the election by Trump’s judicial selection committee about his court’s vacancy.

A White House spokesperson didn’t return a request for comment.

The willingness of Democrats to compromise also could rest on the needs of courts with openings.

Both the Southern District of California and Southern District of New York would’ve received additional judgeships under a bill to expand under-resourced courts that Biden vetoed. The California vacancy also has been identified as a judicial emergency, a classification for vacancies on courts with high workloads. Sabraw said senior judges help fill the gap.