Washington – The Senate confirmed two more of President Biden's nominees for federal judgeships on Friday, bringing the total to 235, the most since he took office. number of judges Approved for lifetime appointment during President-elect Donald Trump's first term.
The confirmation of Benjamin Cheeks to the federal district court in Southern California follows the confirmation of Serena Murillo to the federal district court in Central California.
As he nears the end of his presidency, Mr Biden will end his four-year term, in which he appointed one Supreme Court justice, 45 judges on federal appeals courts, 187 judges on district courts and two on the Court of International Trade. Judges have been appointed. His selection of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made history, as she is the first black woman to serve on the nation's highest court.
“Today, we celebrate one of the most significant accomplishments of this Democratic Senate and the Biden-Harris Administration: the confirmation of highly qualified, independent and impartial judges to the federal bench,” said Senator Dick Durbin, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “More than one in every four judges serving on the bench was nominated by President Biden,” it said in a statement.
Mr. Biden has also selected a record number of public defenders to serve as federal judges on appeals courts, and his nominees are among the most diverse than those chosen by his predecessors.
There has been a greater focus on the judiciary by presidents in recent years as gridlock in Congress has led to unilateral executive action on a variety of issues of American life. But those efforts often lead to legal challenges, leaving courts as the final arbiter in disputes over hot-button policies.
While Mr. Biden will likely end his presidency with more judicial appointments than Trump, he has not had the same success as his predecessor in putting his stamp on the Supreme Court. Jackson was succeeded by Justice Stephen Breyer, a member of the court's liberal wing. Retirement in 2022,
But Trump nominated three justices to the high court, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett replaced the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal member who was locked in a 6-3 conservative majority.
Mr. Biden also trails Trump in appointments to 13 courts of appeals, and ended his presidency with the appointment of 45 judges to those courts, compared to Trump's 54.
But when Trump took office in 2017 he had an advantage, inheriting 17 appellate court vacancies after the Republican-led Senate blocked then-President Barack Obama's nominees in the final two years of his term. When Mr. Biden began his presidency, there were only two open seats on the appeals courts.
With Trump's second term on the horizon, some judges who had announced their plans to retire have reversed course as it became clear that their replacements would not be confirmed before January 3, when the Republican Senate Will take control of.
Judge James Wynn of the Fourth Circuit informed Mr. Biden last week that he would no longer take senior status, a form of semi-retirement, and the White House withdrew the nomination of his potential successor, North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park .
North Carolina's Republican senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, opposed Park's nomination, and Tillis opposed the nomination. criticized Wynn described the decision to withdraw his retirement as “extremely partisan” and motivated by Trump's election.
Two district court judges appointed by Democratic presidents, Judges Max Cogburn and Algenon Marbley, also canceled their plans to take senior status after Trump's victory. According to Reuters,
The reversal came after Senate Democrats reached a deal with Republicans to allow faster consideration of Mr. Biden's district court picks. GOP senators – with Trump's support – were working Slow down the pace of judicial confirmations During the lame-duck session, but under the agreement, Democrats will drop procedural hurdles on district court nominees if they don't bring the four remaining appellate court nominations up for a vote.
According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, there will be four current or future vacancies on the appeals courts and more than 30 vacancies on the district courts after Trump takes office.