President Biden on Tuesday celebrated the Senate confirmations of his first judicial appointments with a vow to continue to remake the federal judiciary.
“We are on track to have confirmed the most judges by July of the first year of a president’s first term in over 50 years,” Mr. Biden said. “I look forward to continuing to make nominations at an historic pace and working closely with the Senate on many more confirmations.”
The Senate confirmed two Biden nominees as district court judges on Tuesday.
By comparison, former President Trump had three judicial nominees confirmed by July 12. One was a nominee to the Supreme Court, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.
Julien Neals, who is Black, was confirmed, 66 to 33, to the District of New Jersey. He was nominated for a judicial vacancy under former President Obama but the Republican-led Senate at the time did not move forward with his nomination.
Senators also confirmed, on a 72 to 28 vote, Regina Rodriguez, a Latina corporate attorney, to the District of Colorado.
“They are both highly qualified, and they represent the diversity that is one of the ultimate strengths of our nation — in all branches of government, including the judiciary,” Mr. Biden said. “Other nominees are awaiting confirmation who also have bipartisan support, and I hope they will be rapidly confirmed as well.”
The push for judicial confirmations from Democrats comes after Republicans, led by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made confirming Mr. Trump’s picks for lifetime appointments as federal judges a priority in an effort to give the judiciary a conservative bent.
Mr. Trump had three Supreme Court nominees, 54 circuit court appointees and 174 district judges placed on the bench during his four-year term.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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