100 LIFETIME JUDGES AND COUNTING – SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE MAKING HISTORY BY CONFIRMING PRESIDENT BIDEN’S JUDICIAL NOMINEES TO FEDERAL COURTS
Senate Democrats have made confirming President Biden’s judicial nominations a top priority – and we have made history, not just with the number of judges confirmed but the demographic and professional diversity of these nominees, forever changing the face of the judiciary following four years of confirmation of hard-right conservatives under Leader McConnell and Donald Trump. Senate Democrats will continue our work to confirm President Biden’s well-qualified and diverse judicial nominees in the 118th Congress.
“Senate Democrats have focused intensely on expanding the diversity of our courts, and not just in terms of demographics but in terms of experience, professional experience too,” said Majority Leader Schumer. “We are working hard not only to add more women, more people of color, more lawyers from unique backgrounds to the bench, but people of different walks of life.”
And that work is already starting. The first three judges confirmed by the 118th Congress are all historic, well-qualified, diverse women who exemplify this Congress’s commitment to reshaping the federal judiciary to look more like America:
DeAndrea Benjamin, United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit – Judge Benjamin is the 12th Black woman Senate Democrats have confirmed to a Circuit Court—only 9 such judges had ever been confirmed before the Biden administration, and no president had ever confirmed more than 3. She will be the second woman of color to ever sit on this court.
Cindy Chung, United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit – Judge Chung will be the 13th Asian woman confirmed to a lifetime judgeship under the Senate Democratic majority, more than any other president in history. She will also be the first Asian American ever confirmed to this court.
Gina Méndez-Miró, United States District Judge for the District of Puerto Rico – Judge Mendez-Miro will be the third Biden appointee for the District Court of Puerto Rico confirmed by Senate Democrats. This all-women slate is making huge strides towards gender diversity for the District. She will make history as the first openly LGBTQ judge on the court.
This Senate has confirmed more judges by this point in a president’s term than under either of the previous administrations:
|
|
Circuit Judges Confirmed At This Point In Their Term |
District Judges Confirmed At This Point In Their Term |
Total Judges Confirmed At This Point In Their Term |
Total Judges + SCOTUS Confirmed At This Point In Their Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Biden |
30 |
69 |
99 |
100 |
Trump |
30 |
53 |
83 |
85 |
Obama |
17 |
48 |
65 |
67 |
The well-qualified and diverse judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are breaking barriers and making our courts more reflective of America. Of these 100 judicial nominees:
- 76/100 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are women
- 68/100 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are people of color
- 33/100 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are Black
- 25/100 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are Black women
- 21/100 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are Hispanic
Particularly notable: of the 30 Circuit Court judges confirmed this Congress, 23 are people of color, 17 are women of color and 12 are Black women. More Black women have been confirmed to Circuit Court judgeships under President Biden and Senate Democrats than under all previous presidents combined.
In comparison to other presidents’ entire terms:
- This Senate has confirmed more women to judgeships than any Republican President.
- This Senate has confirmed more people of color to Circuit Court judgeships than any other president.
- This Senate has confirmed more Asian and Native women to the federal bench than any other president.
The historic diversity includes some major milestones:
Senate Confirms Jackson As First Black Woman On U.S. Supreme Court
Senate Confirms First Out LGBTQ Woman To Serve On Federal Circuit Court
The Senate Has Just Confirmed The First Muslim American Federal Judge In U.S. History
Cunningham Is Confirmed As First Black Federal Circuit Judge
Senate Confirms First Korean-American Woman Appeals Court Judge
U.S. Senate Confirms First Black Woman To Conservative-Leaning 5th Circuit
First Asian American Confirmed to Third Circuit Appeals Court
The judges are also reshaping the courts by adding a diversity in experience:
Senate Democrats are committed to adding a breadth of experience to the federal bench, beyond the typical trial lawyers, and we are working towards that goal.
This Senate has confirmed more public defenders to appeals courts than any in history and has placed an emphasis on confirming more civil rights, legal aid, and election and voting rights lawyers to diversify experience on the federal bench.
From Myrna Perez, formerly the director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, to Holly Thomas and Cindy Chung from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, and the Innocence Project’s former senior litigation counsel, Nina Morrison, this Senate is expanding the depth of experience of federal judges.
###
