A Letter to Axios on Trump-45 and Biden

 

AXIOS

stephen.neukam@axios.com

letters@axios.com

info@axios.com

 

 

RE: Stephen Neukam, ‘Schumer and Biden eclipse McConnell and Trump on confirming judges,’ AXIOS (Dec. 20, 2024), <https://www.axios.com/2024/12/20/schumer-judges-biden-mcconnell-trump>;

 

You wrote: “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) confirmed his 235th federal judge on Friday, breaking the record [of 234 appointments] set by Republicans under the first Trump administration.” (emphasis added)

 

Your statement here somewhat undercounts both Trump-45’s and Biden’s record. You are only counting appointments to positions on Article III courts (including the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts). However, a President (i.e., Trump-45 and Biden) also appoints other federal judges. Such federal judges include: Article I judges for specialty courts (e.g., United States Tax Court, and United States Court of Federal Claims), and Article IV courts for the territories (e.g., United States District Courts for the District of the Virgin Islands, for the District of Guam, and for the District of Northern Mariana Islands). If you include Article III, Article I, and Article IV federal judicial appointments by the President, then Trump-45 had 261 federal judicial appointments, and Biden had only 253 appointments. [A President also can make appointments to the local D.C. Superior Court and the local D.C. Court of Appeals. Trump-45 and Biden made such appointments, but I lack accurate numbers as to how many each made.]

 

It is also worth noting that in terms of the more powerful lawmaking federal appellate courts, Trump-45 made 57 appointments (including 3 U.S. Supreme Court appointments), and Biden made only 46 appointments (including 1 U.S. Supreme Court appointment). See Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘Senate Confirms 23 BIDEN-nominated Judges Since the Election (UPDATED),’ New Reform Club (Nov. 7, 2024, 6:56 AM, UPDATED Dec. 22, 2024), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2024/11/trump-45-v-biden-federal-judicial.html>; Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘Trump-47 and the Future of the Federal Judiciary (UPDATED),’ New Reform Club (Dec. 7, 2024, 3:09 PM, UPDATED Dec. 22, 2024), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2024/12/trump-47-and-future-of-federal-judiciary.html>; 

 

Seth

Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘A Letter to Axios on Trump-45 and Biden,’ New Reform Club (Dec. 22, 2024, 9:58 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2024/12/axios-stephen.html>;