President Joe Biden late Thursday withdrew 32 nominations from the Senate that were put forward by Donald Trump in his final days in office.
The White House published a letter sent to the Senate issuing the withdrawal Thursday night.
There were all kinds of nominations in the mix. Two nominees were for lifetime federal judgeships, which Trump may have been hoping could slip through to confirmation. Biden just made it clear that’s not happening.
One nominee was up for inspector general for the Federal Communications Commission. A couple of nominees were up for being ambassadors to the Bahamas and Singapore. Judy Shelton was Trump’s pick to take now-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s seat on the Federal Reserve.
It’s normal for an incoming president to toss out a defeated president’s last-minute nominations. But the fact that Biden sent back both of Trump’s judicial picks is a sign that he isn’t ceding any ground when it comes to filling lifetime federal court seats ― not after Trump and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) spent the last four years focused on confirming more than 230 mostly young, male, white, right-wing judges.
Biden hasn’t announced any of his judicial nominees yet. But behind the scenes, his White House team has signaled they aren’t wasting any time lining up court picks.
