{"id":"1794602554625-news-segment","slug":"judicial-sprint-before-senate-flips","title":"Judicial Sprint Before Senate Flips","summary":"After the Nov. 3 midterms, the White House and Senate Republicans are rushing to confirm district and appeals court judges before Democrats take the Senate in January. The first post-election confirmation was Gregory Cook, with votes set for Daniel Domenico and Anna St. John; some nominees, like T. Elliot Gaiser, were first contacted after Election Day. [ms.now](https://www.ms.now/news/trump-rushes-to-fill-judicial-seats-before-democrats-take-over) [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-judicial-confirmations-democrats-senate/)","publishedAt":"2026-11-13T20:42:34.625Z","channel":{"id":"news","name":"Oncast News","language":"en"},"show":"Washington","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: After the Nov. 3 midterms, the White House and Senate Republicans are rushing to confirm district and appeals court judges before Democrats take the Senate in January. The first post-election confirmation was Gregory Cook, with votes set for Daniel Domenico and Anna St. John; some nominees, like T. Elliot Gaiser, were first contacted after Election Day. [ms.now](https://www.ms.now/news/trump-rushes-to-fill-judicial-seats-before-democrats-take-over) [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-judicial-confirmations-democrats-senate/)\nSource: ms.now / CBS News NAMES: Lisa Rubin = legal journalist; Paula Reid = reporter. (https://x.com/lawofruby/status/2121210838350463435)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"After the Nov. 3 midterms, the White House and Senate Republicans are rushing to confirm district and appeals court judges before Democrats take the Senate in January. The first post-election confirmation was Gregory Cook, with votes set for Daniel Domenico and Anna St. John; some nominees, like T. Elliot Gaiser, were first contacted after Election Day. [ms.now](https://www.ms.now/news/trump-rushes-to-fill-judicial-seats-before-democrats-take-over) [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-judicial-confirmations-democrats-senate/)","sourceName":"ms.now / CBS News NAMES: Lisa Rubin = legal journalist; Paula Reid = reporter.","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/lawofruby/status/2121210838350463435","claim":"NEW from me and @MSPaulaReid: Trump might not have a Supreme Court seat to fill before Democrats take control of the Senate, but the White House is pulling out all the stops to seat new district and appeals court judges . . . even ones nominated since the election itself.","author":"Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/lawofruby/status/2121210838350463435","name":"ms.now / CBS News NAMES: Lisa Rubin = legal journalist; Paula Reid = reporter.","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794602554625-news-segment-judicial-sprint-before-senate-flips","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/news","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794602554625-news-segment-judicial-sprint-before-senate-flips","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1794602554625-news-segment-judicial-sprint-before-senate-flips and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Bella","text":"The White House is racing to fill federal judgeships before Democrats take the Senate."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Lisa Rubin on X has the story with Paula Reid. Not the Supreme Court — district and appeals seats."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Lifetime jobs. No do-over."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The White House is, quote, pulling out all the stops."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Even for nominees first approached after the election."},{"host":"Brian","text":"That part should bother you. Voters just delivered a verdict, and you're still installing judges."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Brian, the Senate is still Republican until new members are sworn in. They have the votes."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Legal, sure. But this isn't normal transition housekeeping. They already confirmed Gregory Cook."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Votes are set for Daniel Domenico and Anna St. John."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Some of these names weren't even in the pipeline before voters went to the polls."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The pipeline doesn't matter. The Constitution says the president nominates. Full stop."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Oh, come on. The spirit matters. You lose the Senate, you shouldn't sprint to fill the bench."},{"host":"Bella","text":"You keep saying fill. This isn't court packing. These are open seats."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It's a bench-stacking sprint and you know it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Every party does this when it has a lame-duck majority. Democrats have done the same."},{"host":"Brian","text":"That makes it right?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"It makes it expected. You can hate it and still admit it's within the rules."},{"host":"Brian","text":"I do admit it's within the rules. That's exactly my problem."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Then say that. The system lets a president nominate until the last hour."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Then the system has a flaw. A fast confirmation blitz after losing an election."},{"host":"Bella","text":"How do you fix it? Ban confirmations after the midterms?"},{"host":"Brian","text":"Voters should have a say in lifetime seats. The election told us they want Democrats making those calls."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The election said who controls the new Senate. Right now, it's still the old Senate."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The White House is using that gap. That's the story."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Yes, and it's a real fight over whether lame-duck power is legitimate."},{"host":"Brian","text":"My take: if you need raw speed to seat judges, you're not governing, you're grabbing."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And my take: the other side would do the same. The party with the gavel uses it."},{"host":"Brian","text":"They would. Doesn't make it good for the country."},{"host":"Bella","text":"No, but let's not pretend this is a brand-new scandal."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fine, not new. Still a problem."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's fair. Different fight, same nerve."},{"host":"Brian","text":"An account on X posts a quote it says is Thomas Massie."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The Kentucky congressman?"},{"host":"Brian","text":"Right. The quote says Republicans control the House, Senate, White House, and partly the Supreme Court, so why complain about election fraud?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"Then he allegedly says, 'We won all the damn elections.'"},{"host":"Brian","text":"That quote is floating around, but no reliable source has it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"It's unverified, but the point is sharp. If you won everything, fraud claims sound weird."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The problem is, we can't pin it to Massie."},{"host":"Bella","text":"A reply under the post makes the same point: you controlled all of it."},{"host":"Brian","text":"That's the argument against the fraud narrative in one line."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But some Republicans still say the system is rigged, even after winning."},{"host":"Brian","text":"You can think an election had problems and still win. The two aren't mutually exclusive."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But the optics are rough. Winning all branches makes 'rigged' a tough sell."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Maybe. But without confirmation, this is shadow boxing."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Fair. We'll keep an eye on it."}]}