Schumer says Democrats won't confirm 'MAGA' judges if they win the Senate

Left · 2Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats do not intend to put "MAGA" judges on the courts if they win control of the Senate in the 2026 election. 1 2 Left · 1Schumer, answering an NBC News question about a possible Supreme Court vacancy, said one reason Democrats want to take back the Senate is "not to let Trump put such horrible justices — MAGA justices — on the Supreme Court and the lower courts." 2 Left · 2Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a senior Judiciary Committee member, said it is "slim to none" that a Democratic-led Senate would support a nominee from this administration. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said "we've got to do exactly what McConnell did to us," referring to Republicans leaving Merrick Garland's Supreme Court seat open under President Obama. 1 2

Left · 1NBC News reported that Gallego does not want it to become a rule that no president can get a nominee confirmed by an opposing-party Senate, but wants Democrats at minimum to "even the scales." 1 Left · 1Not all Democrats committed. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said "I can't speak for my colleagues" and favoured Supreme Court reform that lets each president nominate two justices. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), next in line to chair the Judiciary Committee if Democrats win, answered "Don't know." 1 Left · 1Josh Orton, president of the progressive group Demand Justice, said the group is "prepared to oppose any Trump nominee, regardless of when the vacancy happens," arguing Trump wants judges personally loyal to him. 1

Left · 1Blumenthal said one of their litmus tests for Trump's judicial nominees is whether they can correctly say who won the 2020 election, which some Trump nominees have refused to answer; Trump continues to make false claims that it was stolen. 1 Left · 1Republicans responded. Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) wrote on X that a Republican Senate would be needed to confirm a Trump nominee if Justice Samuel Alito retires, and claimed Democrats "will not even allow a vote." Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said there was only a "very slim possibility" a Trump pick would get through a Democratic-led Senate. 1 Left · 1No justice has signalled plans to retire, but Alito, 76, told CBS News he considered retiring earlier this year and decided against it, saying it is "too hard to predict what the political situation will be." Clarence Thomas is 78. Trump appointed three justices in his first term and has 290 federal judges in nearly six years, all confirmed under GOP Senate control. 1

Left · 1Raw Story added that Democrats need four seats to flip the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, and that Maine Democratic nominee Troy Jackson is pressing Sen. Susan Collins over her votes for justices who later helped overturn Roe v. Wade. It also said Alito will weigh retirement again in 2027. 2 Left · 1Last month Trump criticised the Supreme Court on Truth Social for ruling against him on mail-in ballots, tariffs and birthright citizenship, writing that the justices are "merely a shell of their original selves." 1