While Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer pushes to confirm many of Biden’s judicial nominees through the lame-duck session, Republicans have employed a series of procedural tactics to slow down the process as much as possible.
When Schumer attempted to file cloture on nominees Monday evening, a procedural step typically done in just a few minutes with unanimous consent, Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and John Thune, R-S.D., asked for the yeas and nays on each motion.
That forced the chamber into a series of 18 roll call votes lasting more than four hours as it moved back and forth from legislative to executive session. By the end, shortly before midnight, cloture had been filed on nine district court judges.
