With just weeks remaining before Democrats take control of the Senate, the White House and Senate Republicans are pushing to confirm as many district and appeals court judges as possible. Their compressed campaign is already testing committee norms and Republican unity.

The Senate confirmed Gregory Cook to an Alabama district court seat on Thursday, its first judicial confirmation since the Nov. 3 election. A confirmation vote was also scheduled for Monday on appeals court nominee Daniel Domenico, while the Senate took an initial vote Thursday on nominee Anna St. John.

The Senate could hold initial votes on as many as four additional judicial nominations by the end of the week. Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley has tentatively scheduled eight nominees for a Nov. 18 hearing, according to a Democratic committee staffer.

Among them is T. Elliot Gaiser, 37, a former clerk for Justice Samuel Alito who leads the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Committee documents obtained by MS NOW show that Sen. Ted Cruz’s staff first contacted Gaiser about a possible nomination on Nov. 4, one day after Democrats’ midterm victories.

Within two days, Gaiser spoke with staff for outgoing Sen. John Cornyn and learned from the White House Counsel’s Office that he was being considered. He signed his Senate questionnaire the following day, and senators received it one day later.

The White House formally transmitted Gaiser’s nomination on Tuesday, although congressional and White House websites had no record of it as of Thursday afternoon. Gaiser briefly lived in Houston during a judicial clerkship but has never lived in the Northern District or elsewhere in Texas, according to the Democratic staffer.

A federal source familiar with the nomination said Gaiser has extended family near Dallas and that his family has long wanted to live closer to them. Mike Davis, a longtime Trump legal adviser, dismissed concerns about the pace, saying many nominees have “been in the works” and already underwent vetting.

“When you move quickly, there is always a chance you make a mistake, but the alternative is that you lose the seat,” Davis told MS NOW. Gaiser did not undergo screening by the judicial evaluation committee established by Cruz and Cornyn, prompting reservations from Cornyn.

Texas Supreme Court Judge James Sullivan’s nomination to the Western District of Texas moved on a similarly swift track. Sullivan was interviewed by the senators’ committee roughly 18 months ago but did not interview with the White House Counsel’s Office until less than a month ago.

Sullivan signed his questionnaire on Oct. 30 while seeking election to the Texas Supreme Court. It reached the Senate committee on Nov. 4, the day after he lost, and he is expected to testify at the upcoming hearing, according to the Democratic staffer.

Another nominee, Daniel Ballou, faces formal charges from Kentucky’s Judicial Conduct Commission while seeking a district court judgeship in Kentucky’s Eastern District. The commission accused Ballou of violating judicial rules after he disciplined a female lawyer who filmed a video in his courtroom before proceedings began.

The commission alleged that Ballou barred the lawyer from using electronic devices in the courthouse without giving her notice or an opportunity to be heard, while other lawyers used phones. Ballou offered factual and legal defenses to the allegations earlier this week.

Ballou was reprimanded by the same body in 2011 for publicly endorsing now Sen. Rand Paul in a 2010 email. Responding to Democratic senators, Ballou acknowledged, “I was wrong,” and said he has learned “since the 2010 race to keep my opinions to myself and to vote in silence.”

Public records show the Senate confirmed 22 Biden district and appeals court nominees after the November 2024 election and before the end of that year. However, the Democratic staffer said the Trump effort is moving unusually quickly and breaching the committee norm that questionnaires arrive at least 28 days before hearings.

Sullivan’s questionnaire arrived 14 days before his expected hearing, while Gaiser’s arrived only 10 days beforehand. Federal records show 27 district court vacancies with 10 pending nominees, plus 10 Trump nominees for future vacancies, including six district court and four appellate court selections.

Trump also faces resistance from Republican senators. He withdrew federal district judge Lee Rudofsky’s Eighth Circuit nomination after Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis privately indicated opposition, according to The Associated Press, then nominated Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Cody Hiland instead.

Grassley also postponed a committee vote on Oklahoma district court nominee Zachary West because of concerns from a home state senator, the AP reported. Davis urged reluctant Republicans to accept nominees who may not be their first choice rather than leave seats for Democrats to fill.