President Joe Biden (D) has appointed and the U.S. Senate has confirmed 148 Article III federal judges through November 1, 2023, his third year in office. This is the fourth-most Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidencies since President Ronald Reagan (R). The Senate had confirmed 157 of President Donald Trump’s (R) appointees at this point in his term.
The average number of federal judges appointed by previous presidents through November 1 of his third year in office is 139.7.
By November of his third year, President George W. Bush (R) had the most appointees confirmed with 167, followed by President Bill Clinton (D) at 166. President Barack Obama (D) tied with Reagan to have the fewest confirmations at 113 each.
The median number of Supreme Court justices appointed is one. Two presidents—Reagan and Biden—appointed a single justice; four presidents—George H.W. Bush (R), Clinton, Obama, and Trump—appointed two; and W. Bush did not appoint any.
The median number of United States Court of Appeals appointees is 30. Trump appointed the most with 43, while Reagan and Obama appointed the least with 20 each. Biden’s 36 appointments make up 20.1% of the total 179 judgeships across the courts of appeal.
The median number of United States District Court appointees is 108.W. Bush appointed the most with 137, followed by Clinton at 135. H.W. Bush appointed the least with 83. Biden has appointed 111 district court judges so far during his presidency. Those appointments make up 16.4% of the 677 judgeships across the district courts.
Article III federal judges are appointed for life terms by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate per Article III of the United States Constitution. Article III judges include judges on the: Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. courts of appeal, U.S. district courts, and the Court of International Trade.
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