November 28, 2023
President Biden recently had his 150th federal judge confirmed by the Senate.
Now – that may not seem like a big deal – you’re probably wondering – why should I care.
Well – you should care because whether you realize it or not, this could potentially have a huge impact on your everyday life. And in fact, federal judges have already made drastic changes to your everyday life.
Before I get into that — you need to first understand federal judges who are confirmed by the Senate – whether they sit on the bench in federal district court, federal appeals court or the supreme court all get appointed for life.
Yes you heard that correctly – federal judges confirmed by the senate all serve a life term because that’s what the constitution says. As long as the judge has no bad behavior, the constitution says in order to ensure an independent judiciary – federal judges should be insulated – in theory – from the pressures of politics. They shouldn’t have to worry about campaigning or being elected every year. Their rulings should transcend the passions of the public and they should apply the law with only justice in mind. Now – many people– especially in the last 10 years or so would question whether that’s actually happening anymore. But I digress.
Back to these federal judges impacting your everyday life business. What you might not understand is the power just one of these federal judges can have. One federal judge can rule a law passed by congress is unconstitutional and stop it from being implemented. One federal judge can block the usage of an abortion medication nationwide. Or overrule an immigration executive order by a President or side with a state that TikTok should be banned in this country. And I could go on and on.
And this is why I always say elections have consequences. It’s the President of the United States who gets to appoint these judges. And normally, they appoint judges who share their ideology. Of course the Senate has to confirm these judges but it’s the President who gets to decide who goes before the Senate. So, Democrat Presidents usually appoint more liberal leaning judges and Republican Presidents usually appoint more conservative leaning judges.
In fact – in just one term in office– many legal experts say former President Trump with the help of then-Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell was able to remake the judicial system to a more conservative one. Trump appointed a total of 245 federal judges including three of the most consequential. Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. But those weren’t all the federal judges Trump appointed – he also appointed– 174 very conservative federal district court judges and 54 conservative appeals court judges. And that flipped the majorities of several appeals courts in this county from liberal to conservate.
Now – it’s true trump was nowhere near the top when it came to total number of federal judge appointments. But his 245 in just four years – rivaled the total number of appointments of other presidents who were in office for eight years. And President Biden with his 150 federal judge confirmation so far in just three years – still has 12 months left in his term to close in on trump’s judicial record.
In case you’re wondering the president with the most federal judge appointments – former President Ronald Reagan with 402, then former President Bill Clinton with 387, then President George W. Bush with 340, former President Barack Obama with 334, former President Jimmy Carter with 262, then former President Trump with his 245 and the President with the least federal judge appointments was former President George H.W. Bush with 197.
Look at all the Presidents and their judicial appointments here.
