Biden gets record 235th federal judge confirmed in waning days

Justin Sink and Billy House, Bloomberg News on Dec 20, 2024

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden set a new record for federal judicial confirmations in a single term, when Serena Murillo became his 235th life-tenured federal judge confirmed by the U.S. Senate as lawmakers worked into the night ahead of a holiday break.

The confirmation on Friday night means that approximately one quarter of all active federal judges were appointed by Biden, and comes as Democrats are racing to secure their nominees before losing control of the White House and upper chamber in January.

The confirmations include 45 appeals justices and 187 district court justices, in what aides say was a concerted effort by the president and his legal team to prioritize confirmations. In a fact sheet, the White House said Biden had seen the confirmation of a record number of women, Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, Muslim-American and LGBTQ judges, and more Black women confirmed to circuit courts than every other presidential administration combined.

Still, Biden’s overall judicial legacy will likely be defined by his limited effect on the Supreme Court, appointing only one justice — Ketanji Brown Jackson — to the highest court. During his term, a conservative majority — including three justices appointed by his predecessor and successor, Donald Trump, voted to overturn decades-old federal abortion protections and routinely blocked policy initiatives by his administration.

The confirmation of Murillo, a judge on the Los Angeles Superior Court, on Friday evening comes after Trump criticized Republican senators who did not attend votes, allowing Democrats an easier path to getting nominees approved.

“The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door,” Trump said in a social media post last month. “Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!”