With help from Chuck Schumer (D-Ny.) and some Senate Republicans, President Biden has officially surpassed Donald Trump's record on confirming federal judges.
Schumer was able to confirm Biden's final two judges on Friday before Congress was set to split for the year. The lame duck Biden is now leaving office with 235 judges, just one more than the 234 that Trump confirmed in his first term.
Earlier in the week, Trump had urged Senate Republicans not to "fast-track" Biden's judicial nominees before Congress goes home for Christmas. Trump argued the seats should be left open for him to fill after his historic re-election.
“To all Senate Republicans: NO DEAL WITH DEMOCRATS TO FAST TRACK NOMINATIONS AT THE END OF THIS CONGRESS,” Trump wrote. "I won the biggest mandate in 129 years. I will make my appointments of Very Qualified People in January when I am sworn in,” Trump added.
Despite Trump's demand, Senate Republicans honored a Thanksgiving agreement they made with Schumer not to block votes on Biden's remaining district court nominees.
In exchange, Schumer had promised to leave open four circuit court positions for Trump, but it turned out Schumer had not conceded anything of value. Democrats admitted they never had the votes for those seats, anyway.
To make matters worse, one of the circuit judges who was set to retire, James Wynn of the 4th Circuit, reversed his decision to stop Trump from replacing him. Two liberal district court judges have done the same.
Even with liberal judges engaging in brazen dirty politics, Republicans opted to play nice with Schumer and Biden.
“It’s not right that — that happened, but my understanding is that we have an agreement not to go forward with those appellate judges,” Senator Rick Scott (R-Fl.) told the Washington Examiner.
With Republicans staying out of the way, Schumer successfully confirmed Benjamin Cheeks to the federal district court in Southern California and Serena Murillo to the be district judge for the Central District of California. Both of the votes passed along party lines Friday.
President Biden has prioritized adding minorities and women to the federal judiciary, fulfilling an explicit pledge to confirm a black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the Supreme Court. Trump had more impact on the highest court in the land, appointing three Supreme Court picks compared to Biden's one.
Biden also confirmed fewer circuit court judges than Trump - with 45 for Biden to Trump's 54. Still, Biden left a seismic impact in terms of demographics: the vast majority of Biden's judges are non-white, and about two-thirds are women, something Democrats have celebrated as a win for so-called diversity.
“When I ran for President, I promised to build a bench that looks like America and reflects the promise of our nation. And I’m proud I kept my commitment to bolstering confidence in judicial decision-making and outcomes,” Biden said in a statement Friday.
While Biden's judges will serve for life, his influence will be mitigated by a second term of Trump.
"Let me assure you, by January 20th of 2029, Trump will be bragging about getting 240 judges,” incoming Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Ia.) said.
