The Confirmation Race Is in Full Swing

It’s crunch time for President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress after Democrats managed to win back the House and Senate in the midterm elections.

Trump is seeking to push through as many executive and judicial nominations as possible before Democrats take over the legislature next year. 

He announced on Tuesday that he is making some new nominations: Texas Supreme Court Justice James P. Sullivan for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, and T. Elliot Gaiser, who runs the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, for the Northern District of Texas. 

Sullivan would fill the Western District seat vacated when Judge Alan D. Albright resigned on Aug. 31, and Gaiser the Northern District seat of Judge Jane J. Boyle, who took senior status on Oct. 1, 2025. 

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) claimed that Republicans are racing to confirm both men before Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-TX) is sworn in on Jan. 3 and gains sway over Texas selections. “The defeat of the Republicans in Texas has created a scramble for lifetime appointments to the federal bench,” Durbin said.

The issue is that when Talarico takes office, he can refuse to approve any nomination Trump makes related to his state under the blue slip tradition.

The President today nominated Texas Supreme Court Justice James Sullivan to the Western District of Texas, OLC head Elliot Gaiser to the Northern District of Texas, and Grayson Lambert to the District of South Carolina.

Expect the objection on Sullivan: Texas voters just removed…

— Jeff Clark (@JeffClarkUS) November 10, 2026

The blue slip tradition is an informal Senate practice where the Judiciary Committee sends a blue-colored form to home-state senators to seek their opinion on a federal judicial nominee. If a home-state senator returns a negative blue slip or chooses not to return it at all, it can effectively block the nomination from moving forward in committee. President Trump has repeatedly called on the Senate to end this tradition because Democrats have been using it to block his nominees — especially in New Jersey.

However, it’s worth noting that Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) will remain in his seat until next January. Ever since Trump refused to endorse him in the primary race, Cornyn has been acting like a spoiled child, taking potshots at the president and his allies. It wouldn’t be surprising if Cornyn used the blue slip tradition to hold up Trump’s nominees out of pure pettiness.

The Texas fight is only one front in this battle. Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to extend their calendar and days in session to work through 23 pending judicial nominees and nearly 100 executive branch nominees in the 54 days before Democrats take over, with a stopgap funding bill set to expire on December 11 eating into the same floor time.

“I’m going to work hard to get judges confirmed quickly during the lame duck session while we still have time,” Grassley said.

Talarico has not publicly commented on how he will handle Trump’s nominees. But it seems reasonable to suggest he will follow the party line like his colleagues.

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