The Democrats’ coming takeover of the Senate has kickstarted a scramble to confirm two dozen of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees before Republicans turn over the gavel in January.
The mad dash included a November 4 call from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz to a top lawyer in Trump’s Justice Department to solicit the lawyer’s interest in filing a seat in Texas, after the state elected James Talarico, a Democrat who will have veto power over district court nominees. Trump formally announced the nomination of T. Elliot Gaiser, the head of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, less than a week later.
