He oversaw confirmation of 235 federal judicial nominees compared to 234 during Trump’s first term.
President Joe Biden celebrated on Jan. 2 the confirmation of 235 federal judges during his term, stating that he had made the judiciary more diverse.
“Judges matter, shaping the everyday lives of Americans, protecting our basic freedoms,” Biden said at a press conference joined by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
President-Elect Donald Trump’s first term saw the confirmation of 234 judicial nominees.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate these two men,” Biden said, referring to the senators. He said that “their leadership has been invaluable.”
Durbin kicked off the press conference by saying that Biden’s nominees “represent the best of the judiciary, the best of America.”
Biden said that “these judges will be independent, they‘ll be fair, and they’ll be impartial.”
He also touted that he nominated the first black woman, former D.C. Judge and current Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, to sit on the nation’s highest court.
“We have a bench that looks like it represents all of America,” the president said.
According to the White House, Biden’s confirmed judges included 45 to the nation’s courts of appeals, 187 to the nation’s district courts, and two to the U.S. Court of International Trade.
His confirmations included “more black women appointed to the circuit courts than every other presidential administration combined,” the White House said on Dec. 20.
Biden’s term has been filled with blockbuster Supreme Court decisions heavily criticized by some.
Durbin and others released a report in December on a 20-month investigation into “the ethical crisis at the Supreme Court” and called for reform.
Just days before Biden’s speech, Chief Justice John Roberts, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, issued a report warning the judiciary’s independence was under threat.
Even though elected officials have every right to criticize judicial decisions, their statements can “prompt dangerous reactions by others,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts released a statement in March 2020 criticizing Schumer for saying in front of the Supreme Court that two Trump-appointed justices would “pay the price.”
In June 2022, the highest court would go on to overturn a decades-old precedent, Roe v. Wade, that limited states’ ability to restrict abortion.
That decision and others helped form the basis for Biden’s criticisms of the Supreme Court.
Biden advanced large-scale reforms—including one that intended to reverse the Court’s controversial holding that presidents enjoy certain immunity from criminal prosecution.
More recently, Biden vetoed a bill that would have added 66 federal judgeships.
During the Jan. 2 press conference, Schumer described the judges as “the shield that protects our democracy,” and praised Biden.
“You helped us construct a federal bench that will not only protect our institutions but also that better reflects on America itself,” he told the president.
Biden and Senate Democrats have received criticism over their approaches to the federal judiciary.
On Jan. 2, The Wall Street Journal editorial board pointed to Roberts’s invocation of elected officials showing open disregard for federal court rulings.
“The chief mentioned no names, but we can, and look no further than President Biden,” its editorial read.
It pointed to how Biden said the Supreme Court blocked his student loans plan in Biden v. Nebraska and said that didn’t stop him.
Since that decision, Biden has pursued various alternative policies seeking to forgive student debt.
Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.