President Joe Biden will leave office with more lifetime judicial confirmations than his predecessor and a legacy of diversifying the federal bench, a win for Democrats in the final days of the 118th Congress.
Senate Democrats on Friday notched the 235th lifetime judicial confirmation during the Biden administration, edging out the first Trump administration by one. The vote was on Serena Raquel Murillo to become U.S. district judge in the Central District of California.
The figure is the largest number of such confirmations in a single presidential term in decades, according to the White House. Senate Democrats had to navigate slim working majorities throughout Biden’s presidency and carve out enough floor time to confirm the nominees.
The administration also made strides in diversifying the judiciary. Democrats on Friday highlighted their record in confirming women and people of color and the Biden administration underscored its work putting nominees with public defense experience on the bench.
Biden’s highest-profile nominee, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, became the first Black woman and first former public defender on the Supreme Court, but lower-court nominees broke ground as well.
“And no matter who they are or where they come from, all of these appointees are supremely qualified to serve in the role of Judge, and remain committed to the rule of law and the Constitution,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden wasn’t, however, able to match Trump on confirmations for appellate posts. Biden is set to end his presidency with 45 circuit court confirmations while there were 54 during Trump’s first term, according to groups that track judicial nominations.
Trump also appointed three Supreme Court justices, solidifying conservative control of the high court well into the future.
Democrats and Republicans had agreed on a process to confirm a number of Biden’s district court nominees, while setting aside four circuit court nominees.
Progressive judicial groups criticized that deal, saying Democrats were abandoning well-qualified nominees. But a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the four circuit court nominees lacked the votes needed for confirmation.
Democrats on Friday took a victory lap and lauded their achievement, underscoring the judges’ experience and highlighting their demographic and professional diversity.
“We’re proud of this milestone. Not only because of the number, but because of what it means. It means our bench is now far more balanced in its expertise, experiences and qualifications,” Schumer said at a Friday evening news conference.
Senate Judiciary Chair Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., thanked his committee members at the news conference and said it was a “tough assignment,” adding that panel rules made it “absolutely essential for every member to be present.”
“So the people behind me, and some others who couldn’t join us at this moment, really made this happen [and] at great personal sacrifice. It was a team effort all the way,” Durbin said.
Trump is set to be sworn into office on Jan. 20 and Republicans will have the Senate majority in the next Congress, giving them the latitude to confirm conservative judges and fill any openings on the Supreme Court.
John P. Collins Jr., a law professor at George Washington University, has said Trump could be responsible for appointing half the federal judiciary by the end of his second term.
Republicans could also have opportunities to solidify conservative control on the nation’s highest court if any of the current members retire.
Biden is set to end his presidency with some district court seats still unfilled. More than two dozen vacancies in states with two Republican senators didn’t receive a nominee from the administration, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Committee tradition requires both home-state senators to return blue slips on a district court nomination before a confirmation hearing is set, giving senators a de facto veto over district court seats in their home states. Durbin stood by that practice despite calls from progressive groups to change or discontinue it.
The post Biden edges out Trump’s first-term federal judicial confirmations appeared first on Roll Call.
