WASHINGTON – The Senate on Friday confirmed two more of President Biden’s nominees for federal attorney general, bringing the total to 235 since President Biden took office. number of judges The lifetime appointment was approved during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term.
The confirmation of Benjamin Cheeks in the U.S. District Court of Southern California was followed by the confirmation of Selena Murillo in the U.S. District Court of Central California.
As he nears the end of his presidential term, Mr. Biden will complete his four-year term by appointing one Supreme Court justice, 45 federal appeals court judges, 187 district court judges, and two International Trade Court judges. His choice for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made history as she became the first black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
“Today, we represent one of the most important accomplishments of the Democratic Senate and the Biden-Harris administration: highly qualified, independent and equal-minded people,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “We celebrate the confirmation of a judge to the federal bench.” “More than one in four judges currently serving on the bench were nominated by President Biden,” he said in a statement.
Biden has also selected a record number of public defenders to serve as federal judges on appeals courts, making his nominees the most diverse of those nominated by his predecessor.
Presidents have increasingly focused on the judiciary in recent years, as gridlock in Congress has led to the executive branch taking unilateral action on a variety of issues that touch Americans’ lives. But these efforts often give way to legal challenges, with courts becoming the final say in disputes over high-profile policies.
Mr. Biden is likely to end his presidency with more judicial appointments than Mr. Trump, but he is not expected to be as successful as his predecessor in gaining approval for the Supreme Court. Mr. Jackson replaced Justice Stephen Breyer, a member of the court’s liberal wing. Retired in 2022.
However, President Trump nominated Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the high court. Barrett replaced the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, securing a 6-3 conservative supermajority.
Mr. Biden also trailed Mr. Trump in appointments to the 13 courts of appeals, ending his term as president with 45 judges confirmed to those courts compared to 54 for Mr. Trump.
But Trump, who took office in 2017, had an advantage: During his final two years in office, he took over 17 vacancies on the appeals court after the Republican-led Senate blocked then-President Barack Obama’s nominations. is. When Biden took office, there were only two seats available on the Court of Appeals.
With President Trump’s second term just around the corner, it became clear that a successor would not be confirmed by January 3, when Republicans will have a majority in the Senate, and some judges who had announced plans to retire have changed their minds. did.
Fourth Circuit Judge James Wynn last week notified Biden that he would no longer accept senior positions, a type of semi-retirement, and the White House announced that Biden’s potential successor, North Carolina Attorney General Ryan・Mr. Park’s nomination was withdrawn.
North Carolina Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd opposed Park’s nomination, with Tillis calling Wynn’s decision to withdraw from retirement “brazenly partisan” and motivated by Trump’s election. he accused.
According to Reuters, two district court judges appointed by Democratic presidents, Judges Max Cogburn and Judge Algernon Mabry, also withdrew their plans to serve as senior judges following President Trump’s victory.
The reversal came after Senate Democrats reached an agreement with Republicans that would allow for quick consideration of Biden’s district court picks. Republican senators, with support from President Trump, slow down the pace of judicial confirmations Under the agreement, which is in a lame-duck session, procedural hurdles for district court nominees will be avoided if Democrats do not put the remaining four appellate court nominees on the ballot.
According to the U.S. Office of Court Administration, there are four current or future vacancies on appellate courts to fill after President Trump takes office, and more than 30 vacancies on district courts.
