Steve Bannon believes Americans are "about to see a war in the Senate," telling Newsweek on Saturday that some Democrats in the upper chamber "want to have an actual Blitzkrieg of federal judges approved," prior to President-elect Donald Trump taking office in January.
In a phone interview with Newsweek early Saturday afternoon, Bannon spoke about the transition period between President Joe Biden and the Democratic-majority Senate to Trump and the newly elected Republican majority Senate.
Following Trump's electoral victory earlier this week, in which he won both the popular vote and the Electoral College, there have been various calls on social media as well as, according to NBC News reporter Sahil Kapur "one official in the Biden administration," urging U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to resign from the bench so that Biden, with support from the Senate, would be able to appoint a new justice ahead of Trump's second term.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House press office for comment via email on Saturday afternoon.
Sotomayor, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, is the first Latina and the third woman to serve on the Court. At 70, she is the oldest Democrat-appointed justice on the Court, which has a 6-3 conservative supermajority. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who is 76 years old, is the oldest sitting member of the Court.
Bannon, who served as White House chief strategist in the early months of the first Trump administration, called the move "risky," saying "if she steps down, it might lead to a void where Trump could actually have his fourth Supreme Court Justice in the first couple of weeks."
During his first term, Trump appointed three Supreme Court Justices: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, the latter who filled the late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat. The appointments pushed the Court further right.
Beyond the Supreme Court, Bannon spoke more broadly about his concerns over potential appointments of federal judges and what the next months may look like in the Senate where judicial confirmations occur.
"[Senator] Elizabeth Warren—I've always considered Elizabeth Warren a very serious person—she's saying they want to have an actual Blitzkrieg of federal judges approved and Sotomayor," Bannon told Newsweek. Blitzkrieg is a German word used to describe a swift, forceful, surprise offensive.
He also described what Democrats might pursue in the Senate regarding judicial appointees as a "jihad."
Newsweek has also reached out to Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's press teams for comment via email on Saturday.
In a Time opinion article published Thursday, Warren wrote: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must use every minute of the end-of-year legislative session to confirm federal judges and key regulators—none of whom can be removed by the next President." Warren did not mention Sotomayor or suggest she should retire.
When Newsweek asked Bannon to elaborate, he said, "She said federal judges, but she implied Sotomayor."
Commenting on Warren's call to Schumer, a New York Democrat, to confirm federal judges, Bannon told Newsweek, "They're trying to jam through a slew of judges because they understand they are going to lose control here of being able to appoint to the bench."
He noted that this might be the Democrats last shot for "at least four years" and "maybe a decade" to appoint judges. "I think you're gonna see a firestorm in this thing. And the collegiality in the Senate is, I think, going to breakdown very quickly."
Bannon, who told Newsweek he opposes any federal judges being approved before Trump's inauguration, added, "The Senate has to really grind to a halt," adding that Republican senators, who hold a narrow minority, "have to use every tactic possible" to delay appointments ahead of Trump taking office.
Bannon, meanwhile, was recently released from prison after serving his four-month sentence. He was found guilty in 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to respond to a subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
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