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A potential second withdrawal from Paris climate treaty under Trump could look different than first US exit

President-elect Donald Trump has indicated that he would withdraw the U.S. from a global climate change agreement when he assumes office — but a second withdrawal could look different from the first. The Paris Climate Agreement was established at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in 2015 as a legally binding treaty between nearly 195 parties who are committed to international cooperation on climate change. The U.S. officially entered into the agreement under former President Barack Obama in 2016. Under Article 28 of the treaty, parties are allowed to withdraw from the agreement, but no earlier than three years after they officially entered. Therefore, Trump was barred from immediately leaving the treaty when he first took office and the U.S. was not officially withdrawn until the end of 2020. President Joe Biden, in one of his first orders as president, reinstated the U.S. to the climate agreement in 2021. Ahead of the presidential election, Trump told Politico that he would be in favor of withdrawing from the treaty a second time, and given that Biden withdrew at the beginning of his term, this could be accomplished at a much quicker pace. WHITE HOUSE SAYS TO ‘EXPECT MORE’ CLIMATE FUNDING BEFORE PRESIDENT BIDEN LEAVES OFFICE “It would be a very different timeline now,” David Waskow, director of the international climate initiative at the World Resources Institute, told Scientific American. Max Boykoff, professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and a fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research and Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder, told the university’s paper that re-exiting from the agreement could cause “a loss of trust” among world leaders. CLIMATE JUSTICE GROUP HAS DEEP TIES TO JUDGES, EXPERTS INVOLVED IN LITIGATION AMID CLAIMS OF IMPARTIALITY Boykoff also suggested that a U.S. withdrawal could encourage other countries to also exit the treaty, as it was recently reported that Argentina’s Libertarian President Javier Milei is considering it. “The withdrawal may also cause other leaders, who have also expressed resistance to addressing climate policy as a priority in their own countries, to leave the agreement,” Boykoff told CU Boulder Today. However, those in favor of Trump releasing the U.S. from the agreement tell Fox News Digital that there would be many benefits to a second withdrawal. “The benefits of exiting the Paris climate agreement are many, first and foremost reclaiming U.S. sovereignty while respecting the rule of law,” said H. Sterling Burnett, Director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy at the Heartland Institute. “Paris encourages the U.S. to agree to emission reductions that are both unnecessary from a climate perspective, since we don’t control the climate, but which do place substantial costs on Americans while putting the nation at a competitive and geopolitical disadvantage to China, which emits more than double the U.S. with no firm reduction commitments,” he added. Burnett also suggested that Trump submit the treaty to the Senate for advice and consent, which would require a two-thirds vote for the U.S. to rejoin the climate agreement — creating a potential hurdle for future administrations seeking to reenter the accord. Also under consideration is whether the incoming president will withdraw from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a treaty established in 1992 to prevent “dangerous human interference with the climate system.” Mandy Gunasekara, former EPA chief of staff during Trump’s first term, suggested that the incoming president should not only withdraw from the treaty, but also exit UNFCCC, POLITICO E&E Reported. Gunasekara said that the administration should get out of UNFCCC “if they’re looking for a more permanent response to getting out of bad deals for the American economy that do little to actually improve the environment.” Other leaders have suggested that the Paris Agreement itself could suffer in the future if the U.S. is not involved. “The Paris Agreement can survive, but people sometimes can lose important organs or lose the legs and survive. But we don’t want a crippled Paris agreement. We want a real Paris agreement,” Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, told the Guardian. “It’s very important that the United States remain in the Paris Agreement, and more than remain in the Paris agreement, that the United States adopts the kind of policies that are necessary to make the 1.5 degrees still a realistic objective.”

Trump says he will consider pardon for NYC Mayor Eric Adams, says he was targeted for illegal migrant stance

President-elect Trump on Monday said he would consider pardoning New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is the subject of a federal investigation into corruption and bribery charges. “Yeah, I would,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. “I think that he was treated pretty unfairly.” A federal indictment accuses Adams of soliciting illegal campaign donations from foreign entities and falsifying paper trails to cover them up. He allegedly defrauded taxpayers for $10 million over the past decade and frequently took free or steeply discounted vacations bankrolled by his foreign benefactors. TOP ADVISER TO NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS ABRUPTLY RESIGNS AMID FEDERAL INVESTIGATION “I don’t know the facts,” Trump added. “I would certainly look at it.” Fox News Digital has reached out to Adams’ office. During his remarks, Trump downplayed allegations that Adams took free luxury travel and airline upgrades from Turkish officials. “Being upgraded in an airplane many years ago ?” Trump said. “I doubt if there’s anyone here who hasn’t been upgraded.” “It seems, you know, like being upgraded in an airplane many years ago — I know probably everybody here has been upgraded,” he added. “They see you’re all stars, they say, ‘I want to upgrade that person from NBC,’ and that would mean you’ll spend the rest of your life in prison,” he said. NYC HOME IS NEARLY 60K ‘CRIMINAL’ MIGRANTS: REPORT Trump said Adams was targeted because of his strong stance on illegal immigration and the impact it’s had on New York City. “I said, ‘He’s going to be indicted,’” Trump said. “And a few months later, he got indicted.” Last week, Adams met with Trump’s choice for border czar, Tom Homan, to discuss the migrant crisis. After the meeting, Adams said the discussion was very productive. “From what I heard from the incoming head of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is that we have the same desire to go after those who are committing violent acts, repeated violent acts among innocent New Yorkers and among migration asylum seekers,” Adams told reporters. “That’s what I heard from him. And I was pleased to hear that, because we share the same desire.” Adams has denied any wrongdoing. In November, he rebuffed claims that he was aligning himself with Trump in order to get a pardon. He was asked about that matter during an appearance on “The View.” “I think nothing is more challenging than being — not being able to defend yourself in public,” he answered, avoiding the Trump part of the question. “Listen, I said it over and over again. I did nothing wrong,” he continued.

NJ drone incidents spur government push for more counter-drone powers as current authorities set to expire

The mysterious drone phenomenon centered in New Jersey has prompted government officials to issue fresh calls for expanded power as their counter-drone authorization is set to expire this week. The current drone-countering authorities — authorized as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 — grant both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) authority to use advanced detection technologies to identify, track and intercept drones that aren’t complying with the law. The 2018 measure exempts the agencies from other laws that prevent interference with aircraft and wiretapping without a warrant. It expires on Dec. 20, and lawmakers must attach a last-minute extension to a stopgap spending bill to fund the government this week in order to prevent a lapse. But government officials say the 11th hour, piecemeal approach harms their ability to counter drone threats. “We cannot appropriately budget, we can’t strategically plan for the future,” Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security’s counter-drone office, said during a security forum last week. “The administration has been seeking, for several years now, additional authorities to expand the counter-UAS authorities, both of the federal government, which are themselves very limited, and also to give state and local authorities the authority to use certain C-UAS technologies with federal oversight,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters on a call over the weekend. “That legislation has been pending.” DRONE MYSTERY: NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN’T ACT A DHS official said that while there is “no known malicious activity in New Jersey,” the sightings there “highlight a gap in our current authorities, and so we would also urge Congress to pass our important counter-UAS legislation.” The White House-backed Counter-UAS Authority, Security and Reauthorization Act of 2024 would expand the government’s drone authorities and renew them until 2028 — and add new state and local drone authorities. But a separate, bipartisan House plan would scale back the proposed state and local authorities in favor of authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take down drones, instead of just regulating their use in airspace. But lawmakers don’t have time to hash out their disputes over which agency should get what authority before agencies lose their powers entirely — so the narrow extension of authority attached to the stopgap measure is only expected to last a matter of months. DRONE EXPERTS RULE OUT US GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENT, UNSURE OF OTHER NEW JERSEY DRONE PHENOMENON THEORIES For nearly a month, New Jersey residents have alerted authorities to sightings of mysterious drones, some as wide as six feet, hovering in the sky at night. Sightings have ranged from 4 to 180, and some of them seem to be operating in a coordinated manner, and some unmanned aerial systems have been spotted near the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle. Law enforcement has been able to offer little explanation for the phenomenon — but steered the public away from the assumption that the drones originate with a foreign adversary. “To date, we have no intelligence or observations that would indicate that they were aligned with a foreign actor or that they had malicious intent,” a Defense Department official told reporters over the weekend. “But I just got to simply tell you we don’t know.” “We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin. We have very limited authorities when it comes to moving off base,” the official added. “We’re also significantly restricted, and rightfully so — in fact, prohibited — from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance here in the homeland.” Additional unauthorized drone sightings have been recorded near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where officials closed the airspace for four hours due to the sighting, and Ramstein U.S. Air Force Base in Germany in recent days.

Tom Cotton demands DOD records on border-wall material sales be preserved

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is demanding that Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Lloyd Austin promise to keep all records as the Biden administration continues to sell southern border wall materials for low prices ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term. “I write to demand full accountability and transparency from the Department of Defense about its role in the disposal of excess border wall materials from the first Trump administration,” the senator said in a letter to Austin on Monday. JUDGES BACKING OUT OF RETIREMENT AHEAD OF TRUMP TERM LEAVE GOP SENATORS FUMING He acknowledged that President Biden was the one who decided “to halt the needed construction of the southwestern border wall,” but added that he had questions about the DOD’s role in the sale of materials. It was reported by Fox News’ William La Jeunesse that sections of wall were being sold “as scrap” and for just “pennies on the dollar.” RFK JR SET TO FACE ABORTION, VACCINE SCRUTINY IN SIT-DOWNS WITH SENATORS ON CAPITOL HILL According to a DOD official, Biden’s administration has been disposing of excess border wall materials as was authorized by the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The official said that about 60% of these materials have been given to authorized recipients such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Texas and California. They added that 40% was purchased by GOVPLANET, a marketplace that sells surplus government equipment and materials. The border wall materials that are available on the site are not currently owned by the government and the DOD doesn’t have the authority to prevent any sales of them, the official said. BIDEN CLEMENCY ANNOUNCEMENT GETS MIXED REVIEWS ON CAPITOL HILL: ‘WHERE’S THE BAR?’ In his letter to Austin, Cotton told the secretary to provide a written assurance that the department would “preserve all electronic and written material related to the disposition of the border wall materials.” Additionally, he asked for a “full accounting” of how the border wall materials were disposed of as outlined in the NDAA. TIDE TURNS IN FAVOR OF TRUMP DOD PICK PETE HEGSETH AFTER MATT GAETZ FAILURE And lastly, Cotton demanded a list of each company that materials were sold to. “Thankfully, the egregious waste of taxpayer money and flaunting of urgent national security concerns will end on January 20, 2025, when President-elect Trump assumes office,” the Arkansas Republican said. “Congress will use the records you are required by law to preserve to fully understand the Biden Department of Defense’s role in making our border less secure.” The DOD did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. At a press conference on Monday, Trump pleaded with the Biden administration to halt their continued lame duck efforts to sell border wall materials. “It’s almost a criminal act,” the president-elect said. “They know we’re gonna use it,” Trump explained, adding that it will cost more to get back. He predicted it would cost “hundreds of millions of dollars more” to rebuild the wall portions.

Trump says he doesn’t expect DeSantis to name daughter-in-law Lara Trump as Rubio’s Senate replacement

President-elect Trump says he doesn’t think Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will name his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to succeed Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate. “No, I don’t. I probably don’t. But I don’t know,” Trump said Monday as he took questions from reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. “Ron’s doing a good job. That’s his choice – nothing to do with me.” Trump last month announced that he would nominate Rubio, the three-term senator from Florida and a senior Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, to serve as secretary of state in his incoming administration. TRUMP PRESSES DESANTIS TO NAME DAUGHTER-IN-LAW TO SUCCEED RUBIO IN SENATE Since then, the president-elect and some top Trump allies have recommended that Lara Trump, who from March until a week ago served as Republican National Committee co-chair, fill the next two years of Rubio’s term in the Senate. DeSantis has said he’ll make a decision on the Rubio Senate replacement by early next month. DESANTIS SETS TIMETABLE TO NAME RUBIO SENATE SUCCESSOR Trump on Monday praised his daughter-in-law, saying, “Lara’s unbelievable. She was incredible. The job she did at the RNC…. she is so highly respected.” And he added that Lara Trump is highly sought after. “I also know that Lara got so many other things. I mean she’s got so many other things. People want her to be on television. They want to give her contracts,” Trump said. “She’s got so many other things that she’s talking about.” The president-elect also praised Rubio, but added, “He leaves a vacancy in Florida and Ron’s going to have to make that decision. And he’ll make the right decision.” Sources have confirmed to Fox News that Trump told DeSantis that he would like to see his daughter-in-law succeed Rubio. But Republican sources in Florida suggest that DeSantis is more likely to name someone who’s held public office in the Sunshine State. And Lara Trump, in interviews with Fox News and the AP, has said she would “seriously consider” serving Florida in the Senate. DeSantis, a one-time Trump ally who clashed with the former president last year and early this year during a very contentious 2024 GOP presidential nomination race, mended relations a bit with the former president after the primary season, as he endorsed Trump and helped raise money for the Republican nominee’s general election campaign. “Florida deserves a senator who will help President Trump deliver on his election mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation’s fiscal decline, be animated by conservative principles, and has a proven record of results,” DeSantis said last month. And he noted at the time that “we have already received strong interest from several possible candidates, and we continue to gather names of additional candidates and conduct preliminary vetting. More extensive vetting and candidate interviews will be conducted over the next few weeks, with a selection likely made by the beginning of January.” The formal confirmation process for Rubio by his fellow senators won’t kick off until after Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20.

Biden sets record with first-term clemency grants, here’s how others presidents rank

President Biden made history last week when he commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 prisoners and pardoned another 39 people – sparking mixed reactions from lawmakers, including Democrats, who noted that his actions far outpace the clemency actions of any other U.S. president serving his first term in office. In a statement last week announcing the new clemency actions, Biden said America “was built on the promise of possibility and second chances.” “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for nonviolent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses,” Biden said. Biden’s lengthy list sparked mixed reaction from some lawmakers and criminal justice reform advocates, who questioned the administration’s decision-making in determining prisoners that were eligible for clemency. BIDEN CLEMENCY ANNOUNCEMENT GETS MIXED REVIEWS ON CAPITOL HILL: ‘WHERE’S THE BAR?’ The Biden administration told CNN that the decisions on who could be included were not made on an individual basis, but rather, was a “uniform” decision granted to people with a record of good behavior while on house arrest. That includes former Illinois city comptroller Rita Crundwell, who, in 2012, pleaded guilty to a nearly $55 million embezzlement scheme, and former Pennsylvania judge Michael Conahan, who was convicted in 2011 for his role in a “Kids-for-Cash” scheme, in which children were sent to for-profit detention centers in return for millions of dollars of kickbacks from the private prisons. A full list of individuals included in Biden’s most recent clemency action can be found on the Justice Department website. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News’s request for comment on its decision-making in issuing presidential pardons. Biden’s decision to include Conahan on his list of prisoners granted clemency was sharply criticized Friday by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who had been considered on Vice President Kamala Harris’ short-list for running mate earlier this year. Shapiro said Friday he thinks Biden got it “absolutely wrong” in granting clemency to Conahan, saying the decision has “created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania.” “Some children took their lives because of this. Families were torn apart,” Shapiro said of the for-profit detention center scandal. BIDEN STIRS OUTRAGE IN SCRANTON BY COMMUTING ‘KIDS FOR CASH’ JUDGE’S SENTENCE Before leaving office in 2017, President Barack Obama granted clemency to 1,927 individuals during his two terms as president – the highest total of any modern president going back to former president Harry Truman, also a Democrat, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Justice Department data. Truman, who served as president from 1945 to 1953, granted clemency to 2,030 individuals during his two terms in office – slightly outpacing Obama’s list. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected president four times, granted a total of 3,687 pardons, sentence commutations and other acts of clemency during his time in the White House. After Roosevelt died in office during his fourth term, the U.S. Constitution was ratified to limit all future presidents to two terms in office. Others noted the differences between individuals included on Biden’s clemency list and those who saw reduced or pardoned sentences under Obama. The vast majority of Obama’s clemency actions focused on commuting the sentences of federal inmates who met certain criteria outlined under his administration’s Clemency Initiative, a program that ended in 2017 when Trump took office. But critics have noted the stark differences between the number of individuals selected for clemency under each president – and any relationship to a sitting commander in chief. The Obama administration, for example, largely focused its commutations and reductions on nonviolent drug offenders, including many who had been sentenced under mandatory minimum sentencing laws passed by Congress in the late 1980s. These clemency grants came under sharp criticism by some Republicans, who accused Obama of imposing his political will to end certain mandatory minimum sentences – which many argued at the time minimized the “lawmaking authority” of Congress. But Biden’s clemency grants also far outpace his predecessor, Donald Trump, during his first term in office. Between 2017 and 2021, Trump granted just 143 pardons and 93 sentence commutations – amounting to just 2% of the clemency applications that his administration received, according to available Justice Department data. Some noted that the individuals selected for clemency during Trump’s first term also appear to bear a very different list of criteria compared to former presidents. An analysis conducted by Lawfare found that 29 of the 34 pardons granted by Trump were not based on recommendations of the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. Such recommendations are not necessary for clemency, but presidents in recent memory have relied on the DOJ for input into worthy recipients for pardons and commutations.

Trump tangles with reporter on Iran preemptive strike: ‘Is that a serious question?’

President-elect Trump tangled with a reporter who asked him Monday if he would entertain the idea of preemptive strikes on Iran. Trump, following remarks at Mar-a-Lago, took questions from the media, and one reporter asked if he would target Iran’s nuclear facilities, “Well I can’t tell you that. I mean, it’s a wonderful question, but how can I – am I going to do preemptive strikes? Why would I say that?” the president-elect responded. “Can you imagine if I said yes or no? You would say, ‘That was strange that he answered that way.’ Am I going to do preemptive strikes on Iran? Is that a serious question? How could I answer a question like that?” Trump continued. ISRAEL EYES IRAN NUKE SITES AMID REPORTS TRUMP MULLS MOVES TO BLOC TEHRAN ATOMIC PROGRAM The reporter then asked if Trump would be in support of Israel striking Iran. “How could I tell you a thing like that now?” Trump responded. “You don’t talk about that before something may or may not happen. I don’t want to insult you, I just think it’s just not something that I would ever answer. Having to do with there or any other place in the world.” CHRISTIAN LEADER IN LEBANON URGES US, ALLIES TO INTERVENE TO STOP HEZBOLLAH “We’re trying to help very strongly and getting the hostages back, as you know, with Israel and the Middle East,” Trump added Monday. “We’re working very much on that. We’re trying to get the war stopped, that horrible, horrible war that’s going on in Ukraine with Russia. We’re going to, we’ve got a little progress. It’s a tough one. It’s a nasty one. It’s nasty,” he also said.

Biden admin expected to offer California waiver to ban gas-powered cars by 2035: report

The Biden administration is reportedly considering giving California permission to ban new gas-powered cars in the state as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to undo a host of green energy policies next year. California set an emissions standard to ban new gas cars in the state by 2035, but such a regulation requires a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to proceed. Just weeks before Biden’s term ends, the EPA is reportedly planning to grant the waiver to allow the state to set stricter emissions standards for electric vehicles than allowed by the federal government, the Washington Post first reported, citing several sources briefed on the matter. The EPA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, but a spokesperson for the agency told POLITICO’s E&E News that they are still reviewing the regulation “to make sure its decisions are durable and grounded in the law.” AUTO DEALERSHIP OWNER ON EVS: ‘PEOPLE CAN’T AFFORD TO BUY THESE VEHICLES’ The report comes just days before the Supreme Court rejected a request from oil companies to challenge California’s constitutional authority to establish its own standards on electric vehicles. The California Air Resources Board requested a waiver from the federal government for permission to require that 22% of new cars sold be zero emissions by 2025 and achieve a complete ban on gas cars in 2035, citing climate change concerns. BIDEN EPA MAKES FIRST-EVER CLIMATE CHANGE ARREST The state’s waiver requests were challenged by several conservative states and oil groups who questioned whether the state had legal authority to impose such emissions standards, but on Monday, the Supreme Court denied their petition for review. “EPA’s decision to grant California this preemption waiver is based on a rock-solid legal foundation and decades of precedent, and it ensures vital clean air protections for millions of people,” said Alice Henderson, director and lead counsel for the Transportation and Clean Air Policy for Environmental Defense Fund, following the Supreme Court’s decision. Trump, however, is reportedly planning to specifically target California’s EV standards when he assumes office. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump blasted Biden’s actions related to California’s proposed EV mandate regulations. “Fresh off imposing his insane, job-killing electric vehicle mandate at the federal level, Crooked Joe Biden is preparing to slaughter the remnants of the U.S. auto-industry by approving California’s waiver request outlawing the sale of all gasoline-powered automobiles,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement. Leavitt said that, if elected, on his first day in office, Trump would revoke both federal EV requirements and any waiver issued for California by the Biden administration. California officials met in early December to establish ways to “Trump proof” the state before the president-elect takes office, allocating $25 million for a legal defense fund to fight the incoming administration.

Judges backing out of retirement ahead of Trump term leave GOP senators fuming

In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 win, some federal judges have opted to make a rare move and unretire by changing their previously stated plans to move to senior status, which would have created vacancies that Trump would have the opportunity to fill on the federal bench. The move is being met with outrage by some Republicans in the Senate. U.S. Circuit Judge James Wynn of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided not to seek senior status this month as he had originally planned, instead retaining his role on the court. His choice came after Senate Democrats agreed to allow Trump to appoint his choices to several circuit court vacancies, including the seat being left by Wynn. The move angered Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., whose state is under the circuit’s jurisdiction. “Judge Wynn’s brazenly partisan decision to rescind his retirement is an unprecedented move that demonstrates some judges are nothing more than politicians in robes. Judge Wynn clearly takes issue with the fact that Donald Trump was just elected President, and this decision is a slap in the face to the U.S. Senate, which came to a bipartisan agreement to hold off on confirming his replacement until the next Congress is sworn-in in January,” he said in a statement. RFK JR SET TO FACE ABORTION, VACCINE SCRUTINY IN SIT-DOWNS WITH SENATORS ON CAPITOL HILL “The Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a hearing on his blatant attempt to turn the judicial retirement system into a partisan game, and he deserves the ethics complaints and recusal demands from the Department of Justice heading his way.” A spokesperson for incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital, “Senator Grassley looks forward to working with President Trump to fill judicial vacancies with constitutionalist judges, and will work with committee Republicans to respond to inappropriate partisanship on the bench,” when asked about potential hearings. The same was done by lower level appointees U.S. District Judges Max Cogburn and Algenon Marbley, who changed their plans last month. BIDEN CLEMENCY ANNOUNCEMENT GETS MIXED REVIEWS ON CAPITOL HILL: ‘WHERE’S THE BAR?’ While the district judges were not included in the agreement to leave certain vacancies to Trump, it had become increasingly unlikely that President Biden and Democrats would be able to fill the roles in time. In early December floor remarks on the rare decisions by the judges, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, “They rolled the dice that a Democrat could replace them and now that he won’t, they’re changing their plans to keep a Republican from doing it.” GOP ATTORNEYS GENERAL OFFER SUPPORT FOR TRUMP FBI PICK KASH PATEL, URGE SENATORS TO DO THE SAME “It’s a brazen admission. And the incoming administration would be wise to explore all available recusal options with these judges, because it’s clear now that they have a political finger on the scale,” he added. McConnell noted that the agreement made prior to Thanksgiving between Republicans and Democrats stated that the GOP would “forego our available procedural roadblocks on the remaining nominations to district courts—which have the votes to be confirmed—and in exchange the Democratic Leader won’t bring any of the remaining nominations to circuit courts to the floor—because they don’t have the votes to be confirmed.” Trump’s transition office did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.

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