Why were the midnight judges controversial?

The midnight judges were controversial because their appointment by outgoing President John Adams in the final hours of his administration in 1801 was seen as an attempt to maintain Federalist influence in the judiciary despite the Democratic-Republican victory in the presidential election. Critics argued that this last-minute maneuver undermined the democratic process and set a precedent for political manipulation of judicial appointments. The situation escalated when Thomas Jefferson's administration refused to honor some of these appointments, leading to the landmark Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison, which established the principle of judicial review.