Staff Reports
The Senate is set to give the green light to President Joe Biden’s 200th federal judge next week, surpassing the number of appointments made by former President Donald Trump at this point in his term. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been rapidly moving through the confirmations, with 197 judges already confirmed and Biden’s 198th nominee, Seth Robert Aframe, scheduled for confirmation as an appeals court judge for the First Circuit.
With the majority leader filing cloture on two more nominees for district court seats in Arizona, it looks likely that they will also be approved next week. These nominees received bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee last month. This milestone signifies a swift pace for the president, surpassing the number of judges confirmed during the same period in Barack Obama’s presidency and eclipsing Trump’s numbers as well.
Senate Poised to Confirm 200th Biden Judge, Outpacing Trump Appointments – Republicans Doing NOTHING to Slow it Down https://t.co/exwedY7Krz
— Eric Martin (@ZuckerbergRpt) May 17, 2024
While Democrats may not have a Supreme Court majority at the moment, President Biden has been working with the Democratic majority in the Senate to reshape the courts in more subtle ways. He has placed a strong emphasis on appointing female and minority judges to the federal bench.
Challenges remain for Schumer, as the absence of Sen. Bob Menendez and a “pocket veto” from Sen. Joe Manchin, who has pledged not to support nominees without bipartisan support, complicates the process of confirming judges. With the chamber under Schumer’s control by a single vote, bipartisan support is crucial for more controversial judges.
Despite some controversial nominees lacking Democratic support, the majority of Biden’s judges have received bipartisan approval, with many being approved by voice vote or attracting crossover votes from centrist Republicans. Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were the only Republicans to support a procedural vote on Aframe’s nomination.
The elimination of the judicial filibuster has contributed to the rapid pace of appointments, as well as the inability of senators to block nominees in their home state from moving forward, a power they previously held until 2017.
Overall, with the pace of confirmations and the emphasis on diversity in judicial appointments, President Biden and Majority Leader Schumer have been working to reshape the federal judiciary with their nominations.
