President Joe Biden (D) has appointed and the Senate has confirmed 45 Article III federal judges through Feb. 1 of his second year in office. This is the most Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidencies since 1981. The Senate had confirmed 24 of President Donald Trump’s (R) appointees at this point in his term.
The average number of federal judges appointed by a president through Feb. 1 of their second year in office is 29.
- The median number of Supreme Court appointees is one. Four presidents (Reagan, Clinton, Obama, and Trump) made one appointment. Three presidents (H.W. Bush, W. Bush, and Biden) had not appointed any.
- The median number of United States Court of Appeals appointees is six. Biden and Trump tied for the most appointees with 13 each, followed by Reagan with eight. Clinton appointed the fewest with three.
- The median number of United States District Court appointees is 24. Biden and Reagan tied for the most appointees with 32 each. Trump and Obama appointed the fewest with 10 each.
Article III federal judges are appointed for life terms by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate per Article III of the United States Constitution. Article III judges include judges on the: Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. courts of appeal, U.S. district courts, and the Court of International Trade.
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