Thomas Tillis

President Donald Trump is facing pushback from his own party as Republicans race to confirm as many of his judicial nominees as possible before Democrats take control of the Senate in January.

The midterm losses left Republicans only weeks to fill lifetime seats on the federal bench while they still have the votes. Making matters worse for the president’s nominations agenda, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) helped force Trump to withdraw an Arkansas appeals court nominee Tuesday, and Tillis says he’ll vote against other nominees if a Republican senator from their home state objects.

Asked whether nominees could advance over those senators’ objections, Tillis told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday night, “No way, because I’ve got the deciding vote in [the judiciary committee].” Republicans hold a 12-10 majority on the panel, so if Democrats are united in opposition, a single Republican defection can block a nominee.

The Trump administration withdrew U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky’s nomination to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday and sent the Senate the name of Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Cody Hiland instead.

Sens. John Boozman (R-AR) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) ultimately withheld their support for Rudofsky and were understood to favor Hiland in a rare rebuke of the White House’s preference. Neither Arkansas senator serves on the Judiciary Committee.

The judiciary committee generally looks for written approval from home-state senators, known as blue slips, for district court nominees. Appeals court nominees can advance without that approval, which made Tillis and Cornyn’s opposition on the committee consequential.

Hiland had already interviewed for the appeals court vacancy and undergone FBI vetting. In August remarks at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, he said the White House counsel’s office later told him it planned to nominate him to a district court instead. He declined. His confirmation would give Trump appointees a majority of active judges on a federal appeals court for the first time, though some of Trump’s allies involved in judicial nominations saw Rudofsky as the more Trump-aligned pick.

One of those believers in Rudofsky was a pivotal figure in Trump’s first term, Robert Luther III, who has continued to play an outside role in advisement during this term. In a statement after Rudofsky’s name was rescinded, Luther said “By forcing Judge Rudofsky to withdraw, supposed Republican John Boozman has blocked more of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees this term than the entire Democrat party.”

Meanwhile, other Republicans on the committee have been reluctant to comment on matters like Boozman’s Rudofsky shutdown, but have voiced general support for getting every nominee past the finish line.

“We do need to confirm every judge we can,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. The committee’s next nominations hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday.

Around noon Wednesday, Ryan Wrasse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), said on X that Thune had lined up floor votes for every judicial nominee already eligible for one.

“Leader Thune has locked in floor votes for every single federal judge who’s currently available. And we’ll continue to consider additional judges as they’re processed,” Wrasse wrote. “Senate Rs have already confirmed 56 Article III judges — at the fastest pace since the Reagan administration.”

One nominee still waiting on the committee is Zachary West, Trump’s pick for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Outgoing interim Sen. Alan Armstrong (R-OK) initially supported West, reversed this week after returning a blue slip signaling his approval. Tillis will continue to side with Armstrong until he leaves office at the end of this month, and the committee put off a vote on West’s nomination Tuesday.

Armstrong’s block isn’t expected to last long However, as Sen.-elect Kevin Hern (R-OK) is due to replace Armstrong on Nov. 30, though Hern’s position on West remains unclear, and his office did not respond to requests for comment. Outgoing Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan called West “a superb pick” in a post on X and said he hoped the impasse would end when Hern takes office.

“It seems like several Senators are getting lame duck zoomies and making bad decisions about judges,” Wessan said.

Cornyn faces a decision of his own in Texas. Trump nominated T. Elliot Gaiser, who leads the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, for a judgeship in the Northern District of Texas. Cruz’s staff first contacted Gaiser about the Dallas-area seat on Nov. 4, the day after the election, according to Gaiser’s committee questionnaire. His nomination moved ahead without a review by the bipartisan panel Cornyn and Cruz typically use to vet Texas nominees.

Cornyn backed James Sullivan for a judgeship in the Western District of Texas. “Sullivan I’m good with,” Cornyn told the Washington Examiner, adding that he was “still waiting on the other one,” referring to Gaiser.

TRUMP DROPS APPEALS COURT NOMINEE OPPOSED BY ARKANSAS SENATORS

Earlier this week, Trump wrote a post on Truth Social calling on senators to confirm 25 judges he’d nominated. The remaining appeals court picks include four: Hiland, Gregory Todd Butler, Daniel Domenico, and Anna St. John. The pending district court nominees include West, Sullivan, Gaiser, Samuel Adkisson, Philip Aubart, Philip Axt, Daniel Ballou, Richard Bennett, Courtney Coker, Gregory Cook, Joseph Falvey, Eric Hamilton, Bradford Kelley, Robert Long Jr., Peter Mansfield, Brian Meyers, Jesus Osete, Trevor Pemberton, and Kyle Reardon.

Trump’s first term produced 234 confirmations, including three Supreme Court justices and 54 appeals court judges. Former President Joe Biden secured 235 confirmations, with fewer appeals court appointments. Trump inherited fewer vacancies this time and had filled seats at a slower pace through October than at the same point in his first term, according to Pew Research Center.