U.S. Senate continues to confirm Trump appointees to federal bench

The 225th federal judge nominated by President Trump was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week.

The Senate has confirmed 227 judges since Trump was inaugurated in 2017. That includes 168 district judges, 53 appeals court judges, three U.S. Supreme Court justices and three members of the U.S. Court of International Trade. The 53 appeals court judges are the most of any president in a single term since President Carter. The 227 confirmed judges are more than any Republican president in a single term in modern history, outpacing Presidents George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Reagan and Nixon. Since Election Day, the Senate has confirmed 13 judges.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement this week the Senate won’t slow down in confirming judicial nominees.

“While our committees are working, the full Senate is keeping busy with one of our core constitutional responsibilities: continuing to confirm well-qualified men and women to lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary,” he said.

Over the last seven administrations, only one president – George W. Bush – nominated judges who had a higher average rating by the American Bar Association for judicial nominations, he said.

“It’s pretty hard to argue that these haven’t been extraordinary additions to our federal courts,” McConnell said. “This has been a tremendous accomplishment. These are judges who will serve our nation honorably for generations to come. Our colleagues here in the Senate should be rightly proud to have confirmed them. And we’re going to continue doing just that.”

Currently, Trump has appointed more than one-fourth of active federal judges. That is a large proportion — but Barack Obama’s appointees still account for nearly 40 percent of the federal bench, according to the Pew Research Center.

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice