WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is racing to fill federal judge seats before Democrats take control of the Senate in January, but some of the senators standing in his way belong to his own party. Senate Republicans have confirmed 57 of Trump's judicial nominees in his second term, and Majority Leader John Thune calls confirmations a top priority. Yet in the past week, Republican senators from Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma have stopped or slowed three nominees picked for courts in their home states, saying the White House chose its candidates without properly consulting them.
Arkansas: the White House gave in
On Tuesday, the White House withdrew the nomination of U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and replaced him with Arkansas Supreme Court Justice J. Cody Hiland. Arkansas Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton, both Republicans, had opposed Rudofsky and wanted Hiland instead. Rudofsky accepted the outcome: "The reality is that, without the support of my home-state senators, confirmation is simply not a practical possibility in today's Senate." Boozman defended "the need for home-state senators' feedback to meaningfully shape the selection of nominees." The Associated Press reported that Cornyn and Tillis had privately told the committee chairman they would vote against Rudofsky as well. Mike Davis, a Trump ally at the conservative legal group Article III Project, had called the Arkansas senators' resistance an "unforgivable sin." Hiland now starts over, with a hearing expected on Wednesday.
Texas: a missing signature
In Texas, Senator John Cornyn has declined to commit to T. Elliot Gaiser, Trump's nominee for a federal trial court seat in Dallas. Gaiser leads the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and comes from Ohio, where he was the state's solicitor general. He never went through the screening committee the Texas senators traditionally use to vet judge candidates. "Trying to air-drop somebody else in at the last minute for the Dallas vacancy that hasn't been through that process, I think, is a concern," Cornyn told the Associated Press. Because Cornyn has not signed the approval form known as a blue slip, Gaiser cannot appear at the Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Oklahoma: a senator changed his mind
In Oklahoma, Senator Alan Armstrong first told the committee he supported Zach West, a lawyer in the state attorney general's office nominated to a federal trial court seat, and then withdrew it. His spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that he now opposes the nomination. "We put up a lot of really qualified candidates that we sent to the White House, and they basically ignored that and just put through their one," Armstrong said. West needs the votes of all 12 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to advance, and Tillis, a committee member, is backing Armstrong. "When I've got two Republicans from the state telling me to move on it, I move on it," Tillis said. "If I have one or more asking me not to, then I'm not." The committee put off a vote on West last Tuesday and decides again on Tuesday. Armstrong leaves the Senate on November 30, before his successor, Senator-elect Kevin Hern, takes the seat.
How senators can block a judge
The main tool is the blue slip, a form the Judiciary Committee sends to the two senators from a nominee's home state asking whether they approve. For trial court seats, the committee's custom is that a nominee does not get a hearing unless both home-state senators answer yes. A senator who stays silent, or says no, can stop a nomination without any vote at all. The custom carries less force for appeals court seats, but senators can still block a nominee with a no vote in the Judiciary Committee, where one Republican defection leaves a nominee short of votes. Under Senate rules, when a Congress ends, every unconfirmed nomination is sent back to the president. This Congress ends on January 3, when the new Democratic majority is sworn in. Trump could send the same names back, but a Democratic Senate would have no reason to approve them.
The White House response, and the other side
The White House is not backing down in public. "We expect all judicial nominees pending in the Senate to be confirmed this year," a White House official said. Tillis, who is retiring, said the White House has at times told senators, in effect, "This is our guy, I hope you'll get on board." He answered: "That's not how it works here. They should expect they're going to get this response." Democrats accuse Republicans of breaking the committee's own customs to rush the nominees through. Senator Dick Durbin, the committee's top Democrat, said Republicans had dropped the usual waiting period for nominees' paperwork to seat Texas judges before Senator-elect James Talarico, a Democrat, takes office in January and gains a say over them. Chairman Chuck Grassley answered that Democrats plan to stonewall Trump's judges once they take over, and noted that Democrats confirmed 22 judges in the lame-duck session of 2024.
The stakes, and what happens this week
The fight matters because federal judges serve for life. Trump appointed 234 judges in his first term, including three Supreme Court justices, and roughly one-third of the judges now sitting on federal courts are his appointees, according to Reuters. Twenty-three of his second-term nominees remain pending. On Monday, the full Senate votes on Daniel Domenico, a Colorado district judge nominated to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, after voting 51 to 27 on Thursday to end debate on his nomination. On Tuesday, the committee decides on West. On Wednesday, the committee holds a hearing Gaiser cannot attend without Cornyn's signature, while Hiland is expected to appear.
Reporting note: This story is based on reporting by Reuters (November 15 and November 10, 2026), the Associated Press, Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, statements issued by Senator Dick Durbin's office, Senate roll call records, and a Congressional Research Service report on Senate Rule XXXI. The figures of 57 confirmed and 23 pending nominees come from Reuters and match a separate count reported on November 11. The exact time of Monday's Domenico vote comes from Senate Press Gallery reporting.
