Democrats are seeking to deny him more opportunities to name conservative judges as the party determines ... to oppose Biden's picks, Manchin has said he will not support judicial appointments that are not bipartisan, shrinking the Democratic margin.

The first vote the lame-duck Senate will take as it returns Tuesday will be on a nominee for a Chicago federal court, kicking off Democrats’ uphill campaign to confirm as many of President Joe Biden’s picks for the judiciary as possible before losing power at the end of next month.