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Joe Biden cemented his legacy on the federal bench after Senate Democrats rushed to confirm more than 200 lifetime appointments to US courts, surpassing Donald Trump in his first term as president.
The number of Biden judicial nominees reached 235 as Congress ended its latest session last week, topping the 234 federal judges confirmed by Trump in his first term. They were the longest presidential appointments to a single four-year term since the 1980s, Biden said in a statement.
As Biden's presidency drew to a close, Democrats in the Senate – responsible for confirming federal judges – have pushed to secure as many confirmations as possible before Congress takes control and the White House is handed over to Republicans next month.
They hope that this final race will go against the grain of judicial confirmation during Trump's first term that has fundamentally changed the American judiciary, swinging the courts at all levels to the right.
Trump's nomination of three Supreme Court justices further distorted the view of the powerful national bench, splitting 6-3 between conservative and liberal justices.
The Supreme Court majority that has since handed down rulings that have reverberated through the American public, including striking down a decision that affirmed the constitutional right to abortion — a move that strengthened right-leaning lower court justices, many of whom were appointed by Trump, to dominate. in favor of practical reasons.
The growing power of the American judiciary and the diversity of the political landscape have turned judicial appointments into an important limitation of presidential power. Judges at all levels have the opportunity to review challenges to laws and regulations, providing a powerful test for controversial policies.
The last-minute democracy, which began after Biden lost the election in November, angered Trump. He he called Senate to block Biden nomination: “Democrats are trying to pack the Judiciary with Radical Leftists on their way out the door.”
“There is an increase in discrimination in the appointment of federal judges,” said Paul Butler, a Georgetown Law professor. The Republican Party has historically prioritized judicial selection — and Biden has taken a leaf from that playbook, Butler added.
Biden's appointments are also notable for their diversity, including what he described as “a record number of judges with backgrounds and experience that have not been brought before”.
About two-thirds of certified judges are women and people of color. Biden appointed more Black women to US circuit courts than all previous presidents combined, and his only Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, was the first black woman on the high court.
“Biden's focus was to correct the decades where people other than white men were not considered on the bench,” Butler said.
Biden also appointed a record number of public defenders, more than 45, and labor and civil rights lawyers – at least 10 and more than 25, respectively – to the federal bench.
“It is very important for a successful, multiracial democracy to have judges who do not just look like the rest of us, but who have studied and spent their careers understanding how laws affect people's lives,” said Lena Zwarenstein, senior director of fair courts. program at the Leadership Conference on Human and Human Rights, a human rights group.
The pendulum is set to swing back again. A new slate of tough judicial appointments is expected as Trump returns to the White House next month and as Republicans take control of the Senate.
“I'm proud of the way the Senate Republican Conference worked as a team with former President Trump to shape the federal judiciary,” said John Thune, the new Senate Republican leader, earlier this year. “I look forward to working with him to further leverage our efforts during his next term in office.”