President Biden has surpassed former President Trump in the number of federal judges appointed for the same point in his tenure. As of September 20, Biden had secured Senate confirmation for 83 federal judges. According to NBC News, Donald Trump had 69 confirmed appointments at this point in his administration. If Biden keeps going at this rate, he will eclipse Trump’s previous record for the number of appointments.
The high number of conservative nominees made by Trump, three of which were to the Supreme Court, has contributed significantly to the success of the pro-life movement, including reversing Roe v. Wade. In his single term, Donald Trump appointed 234 judges. In comparison, presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush each had 325 judges approved by the Senate over two terms.
.@POTUS is appointing judges at a historic pace, with historic diversity.
On Friday of this coming week, one of the 83 will be officially welcomed to her new post: Ketanji Brown Jackson. https://t.co/NnwZGHOmnv
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) September 25, 2022
White House chief of staff Ron Klain highlighted the news and praised the “historic diversity” of Biden’s picks, which include Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice in April. However, if Republicans take back control of the Senate in the midterm elections, Biden’s swift progress may be slowed, as Republicans could obstruct all of Biden’s judicial selections. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are scrambling to confirm as many judicial candidates as possible.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated, “I made clear confirming more of President Biden’s judicial nominees would be a top priority for Senate Democrats, and we’re making good on our promise.” He added, “We’ve come a very long way but there’s much work left to be done.”
