VP-elect JD Vance faces flack from own party for helping Democrats push through Biden judicial nominees

Frustrated Republican Senator says ‘we’ve got potentially dozens’ of judges ‘we could have shoved down our throat’

Republican senators not attending the last few days of the legislative session are facing criticism from colleagues as Democrats work to fill as many judicial vacancies as possible before they lose the majority in January.

That includes Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, the Ohio Senator. Senate Republicans shared their ire after Vance and some other Republican Senators skipped some votes Monday when Democrats worked late into the night to confirm their nominees to the federal bench.

Republicans worked to slow down the voting headed by outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to push through more than a dozen judicial nominees. However, the GOP Senators were unsuccessful as some members of their conference didn’t attend the session, which ended near midnight.

Vance and President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the State Department, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, were two of the GOP Senators who were absent.

“If we don’t show up, we lose,” North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis said on Tuesday, according to The Hill. “I don’t care what the reasons were. We have fewer than 15 scheduled legislative days. You have to show up. Period. End of story. There’s nothing more important.”

“We’ve got potentially dozens we could have shoved down our throat, except for us being here,” he added.

Tillis cited a nominee to the fourth circuit who could be appointed unless Republicans attend the sessions.

“We’ve got to talk to these folks like adults and show up,” the North Carolinian said.

JD Vance returns to meetings with former Congressman Matt Gaetz following a vote at the U.S. Capitol on November 20, 2024 in Washington, DC. Vance faced criticism after missing some votes on Biden judicial nominees (Getty Images)

One of the nominees is Embry Kidd, who was confirmed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals by a vote of 49 to 45. If all members of the Senate GOP conference had been present, and Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman had remained absent, the Republicans could have held up Kidd’s nomination.

With all Senators present, a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Kamala Harris would likely have been required. But with Harris heading to Hawaii on Tuesday, Democrats now have temporarily lost their tie-breaker.

Vance also didn’t appear for the morning vote on Tuesday. Fellow Republican Senators such as Ted Cruz of Texas and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee instead joined Trump for a SpaceX launch in Brownsville, Texas.

Asked about his level of frustration, Republican Louisiana Senator John Kennedy said: “On a scale of 1 to 10, a 12.”

“Because a number of President Biden’s nominees, particularly at the courts of appeal, they think they’re qualified to be a federal judge if they’ve seen My Cousin Vinny, and I don’t agree with them,” he added, according to The Hill.

“Their performance in committee demonstrated that none of them were Oliver Wendell Scalia,” he added, naming some names of former Supreme Court justices. “They did horrible jobs in committee, and we had the votes to prevent them from being confirmed, but some of the folks on our side couldn’t be here, and it’s frustrating.”

Vance responded to the criticism, saying that he was meeting with Trump about who to nominate as the director of the FBI.

“I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49—46 rather than 49—45,” he said, before backtracking and removing his post on X and attending the afternoon votes on Tuesday.

“If we’re going to be effective, we’ve got to show up, and I think that’s the frustration for those of us who did show up,” Republican West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito said.