WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Friday secured his 235th judicial confirmation in office, marking the first time Democrats have moved on to federal courts following a sweeping first-term administration in which Donald Trump held three seats. This result exceeds the total of its predecessors by one, as a result of the company’s strong focus on In the Supreme Court.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) on Friday increased his votes for two California district judges. This was the last judicial confirmation of the year before Congress adjourns to make way for a new Republican-led Senate.
The confirmation of Selina Raquel Murillo as district judge for the Central District of California broke with President Trump’s conventional wisdom. This number is also the highest number of approvals in a single term since the Jimmy Carter administration. Next year, Republicans will seek to further increase their already significant influence over the makeup of the federal judiciary in Mr. Trump’s second term.
Biden and Senate Democrats placed particular emphasis on adding women, minorities and public defenders to the judiciary. About two-thirds of Biden’s appointees are women, and the overwhelming majority are people of color. The most notable appointment was Chief Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first African American woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
“When I ran for president, I promised to build a bench that looked like America and reflected our nation’s promise. And I am proud that I have kept that promise to increase confidence in judicial decisions and outcomes.” “I think so,” Biden said in a statement.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that before the Democratic effort, the number of seats held by women had declined and was overwhelmingly made up of white men.
“We made a conscious step to get more women on the bench. Trust me, we had great people to work with,” Durbin said. “So I think bringing in new justices will enhance the image of the court and its products.”
Biden also focused on bringing in more civil rights lawyers, public defenders and labor rights lawyers to expand the professional background of the federal judiciary. More than 45 are public defenders and more than 20 are civil rights attorneys.
Although Mr. Biden did win more district judge confirmations than Mr. Trump, he made fewer appointments to the superior circuit courts than Mr. Trump, 45 compared to 54 for Mr. Trump. Trump had three Supreme Court appointments compared to his one. To Democrats’ frustration, Republicans filled Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the court in the week before the 2020 presidential election. Ginsburg died in September.
Democrats also faced the challenge of confirming nominees during a two-year period in a 50-50 Senate. There was hardly a week in this Congress that Mr. Schumer did not increase his votes on judicial confirmations, as liberals called on Democrats to show the same sense of urgency on judges that Republicans showed under Trump.
Some Senate Republicans harshly criticized Biden’s choice. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said talk about diversity doesn’t extend to candidates’ opinions.
“One of the consequences of the Trump era is that it has derailed the Democratic Party and pushed it far to the left. So we have put people on the bench who were elected because of their hyper-partisanship,” Cruz said.
Liberal advocacy groups said they were satisfied with the number of judges Democrats secured, but even more so with the quality of the nominees. They said diversity of personal and professional backgrounds improves judicial decision-making, helps build public trust, and encourages people from all walks of life to pursue a career in the legal profession.
“For our federal judiciary to actually deliver equal justice for all, it must truly be for everyone. That’s certainly one reason to applaud this administration for prioritizing both,” said Lena Zwarenstein, the court’s senior director. Fair Courts Program at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Democrats have shown renewed determination on judicial confirmations.
“They learned their lessons from the first Trump administration,” Grassley said. “It’s worth paying attention to the number of judges and the types of judges we have on the court.”
Part of the Democratic urgency is that the nation’s highest court would overturn abortion protections, eliminate affirmative action in higher education, and undermine the federal government’s ability to protect the environment, public health, and workplace safety through regulation. I had come to see it with my own eyes. These cases showed that Washington’s balance of power extends to the judiciary as well.
After the vote, Schumer was jubilant, saying that one in four active judges had been appointed by the Biden administration. He said Democrats are “casting a wider net” than what he called the “privilege pool” when it comes to judicial nominees.
“I’m very proud of this milestone, not just because of the numbers, but because of what the numbers mean,” Schumer said. “This means our bench is now much more balanced in its experience, expertise and qualifications than it was four years ago.”
Mr. Trump will inherit nearly 30 judicial vacancies, a number that is likely to grow as Republican-appointed judges postpone their retirements in the hopes that Republicans will stay on and choose their replacements. It is expected.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Democrats’ sense of accomplishment is somewhat tempered by the knowledge that President Trump has one more term left to continue shaping the federal judiciary. I admitted it.
“We’re not ready to uncork the champagne just because we’ve done a really good job over the last four years,” Blumenthal said. “We need to be ready to work, hope for the best and try to beat out candidates who are simply unqualified. We have jobs available for us. The outlook ahead is grim. is.”
Mr. Grassley promised to try to beat Mr. Biden’s numbers.
“I guarantee you, President Trump will boast that he will have 240 judges by January 20, 2029,” Grassley said.
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