Now Democrats are terrified as they watch the courts slip away. They ought to be. It takes only a simple majority to confirm a federal judge, and the election made that task easier. Republicans added two or three new senators. This allows for some slippage.

But they may not need any. “It’s a simple fact that there isn’t much Republican consensus on a legislative agenda,” David French writes in National Review. “There is enormous consensus and resolve around the federal judiciary.”

McConnell hasn’t even finished the parade of nominees for this year. More will be voted on in the lame duck session of Congress next month. Chances are, they’ll be approved. Republicans have a multitude of young conservative jurists, law professors, and lawyers with dazzling résumés to choose from.

They’re not letting up. They intend to “keep confirming as many as we possibly can for as long as we’re in a position to do it,” McConnell told reporters the day after the midterm. “Next Congress as well.”