Schumer warns Democrats may block Trump's judge picks if they flip Senate

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Oct 5, 2026

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Sen. Chuck Schumer Monday warned Democrats will block most of President Trump’s judicial and cabinet nominees if they retake control of the Senate in the midterms.

With Democrats boasting decent odds of flipping the four seats they need, the Democratic leader said the White House would have to shift course on only nominating judges that back his right-wing agenda if the GOP loses the chamber.

“If the nominees are as crappy as his present ones, very few of them are going to get through,'” Schumer said in a new interview with Semafor. “It’s the quality of the candidate that matters. Thus far, Trump has a record of notoriously bad candidates.”

Schumer didn’t specifically mention a potential Trump nominee for the Supreme Court. But a Capitol Hill source said that the Brooklyn Democrat was definitely also referring to the top court.

“If Democrats win back the Senate, Schumer will be a Supreme Court firewall,” the source said.

Justice Samuel Alito recently said he would consider retiring in 2027 after he considered, but rejected, stepping down this year.

Some Democrats believe Alito, 76, or perhaps Justice Clarence Thomas, 78, could consider retiring immediately following the midterm elections if Democrats win the Senate. That would potentially allow Trump and Republicans to push through a new Supreme Court nominee in the lame-duck session of Congress.

In a similar situation, Republicans used their own Senate majority to block any vote on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland following the 2016 death of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

After Trump won the 2016 election, he successfully nominated Justice Neil Gorsuch to replace Scalia.

Schumer also suggested Democrats would take a dim view of future Trump cabinet nominees, considering the president has mostly picked figures that Democrats call right-wing extremists since winning a second term in the White House.

“If he sends us a new (Defense Secretary Pete) Hegseth, I bet he wouldn’t pass the Senate,” Schumer said.

But when it comes to cabinet members, Trump could mostly do an end-run around the Senate by installing nominees in an acting capacity.

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