Biden has successfully appointed 148 Article III Federal Judges, including 1 Supreme Court Justice, 36 Court of Appeals Judges, 111 District Court Judges and 0 Trade Court Judges.
At the same point in his presidency, Trump had successfully appointed 164 Article III Federal Judges, including 2 Supreme Court Justices, 50 Court of Appeals Judges, 110 District Court Judges and 2 Trade Court Judges.
Biden had been running ahead of Trump for most of his Presidency, but confirmations have fallen off, due to a lack of blue State vacancies. From this point forward, Biden will likely continue to lag Trump and fall behind him.
For example, Obama and Trump successfully filled all judgeships in the District of Arizona, except for one Judge from G.W. Bush. Due to the youthful age of pretty much all of the judges, the next vacancies (two) will occur on June 1, 2024, which will make it difficult for Biden to squeeze in nominees with all the other late term judicial nominees.
There are opportunities for Biden and he will doubtless successfully appoint at least another 50 Judges. But he will likely end his current term with perhaps 210, well short of Trump’s 234.
Even if Biden is reelected, it is very likely Republicans will take the Senate, effectively ending any additional chance of judicial appointments.
Interestingly, Biden has installed all 7 active service judges on the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Because of the youthful age of those appointees and their recent term beginnings, the next vacancy in the that district will not occur until 2036, meaning it will be an all Biden court for at least 13 more years.
Well timed announcement from the White House. Evidently Biden reached an agreement with Rubio for these nominees.
David Leibowitz is the nephew of Norman Braman, who is a billionaire car dealer and a major Rubio donor. Rubio had previously attempted to install Leibowitz under Trump, but time ran out.
As long as Senator Scott does not snafu the works, and there is no indication he will, these nominees will likely be confirmed with Rubio’s support.
These are actually the first four nominees Biden has made for Florida, indicative of the problems Presidents have when trying to make judicial nominations in a State controlled by Senators of the opposite party.
UPDATE for the end of the First Session of the 118th Congress, the Senate is conducting pro forma sessions only until the start of the Second Session on January 8th.
Biden has successfully appointed 166 Article III Federal Judges, including 1 Supreme Court Justice, 39 Court of Appeals Judges, 126 District Court Judges and 0 Trade Court Judges.
At the same point in his presidency, Trump had successfully appointed 187 Article III Federal Judges, including 2 Supreme Court Justices, 50 Court of Appeals Judges, 133 District Court Judges and 2 Trade Court Judges.
Again, the falling rate reflects the fact that Biden has filled most vacancies in Democratic States and is trying to fill vacancies in Republican States, a much harder and slower process.
