Staff Reports
President Joe Biden is about to take the stage, ready to tout his impressive achievement of confirming 235 judicial nominees during his presidency. For the record, this is one more than Donald Trump achieved in his first term. The usual suspects will likely clamor about how this is some grand accomplishment, but one can’t help but wonder if the number is more about the state of the Senate than the quality of the nominees.
As Biden preps his notes in the East Wing, it’s clear that he’s trying hard to squeeze satisfaction out of this milestone. However, his predicament becomes apparent when considering the sheer number of judges confirmed. Sure, he can parade around like a proud parent at a kindergarten graduation over those figures, yet one can’t shake off the feeling that it merely reflects a partisan Senate bent on pushing through a liberal agenda, complete with a cast of characters more aligned with progressive ideals than with a common-sense approach to the law.
Enter the man of the hour, Donald Trump, who will soon find himself back in the Oval Office. With a Republican-led Senate waiting in the wings, the appointments game is about to shift gears. Trump is poised to confirm judges at a pace that may leave Biden’s achievement in the dust. One can only imagine Biden’s advisers scrambling to warn him that the clock is ticking and the real judicial juggernaut is about to roll through again—one that will put a decidedly conservative spin on the judicial landscape for many years to come.
WATCH LIVE: Biden delivers remarks on record judicial confirmations https://t.co/l86zfFZ3KN
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 2, 2025
While Biden’s fan club celebrates his narrow victory in judicial confirmations, the reality is that the Trump administration was able to pack the courts with a significantly larger number of judges as a result of the extensive vacancy left by a certain former president who spent a lot of time in the impeachment spotlight. Now, as Trump gears up to reclaim his spot, the Democratic dreams of a liberal judiciary are hanging by a thread.
In the grand scheme of things, Biden’s numbers might spark some applause among the liberal crowd, but the impending Trump regime is all about action. With judicial nominations set to surge, the question remains: Will Biden’s victory lap be cut short by an acceleration of confirmations that could turn the tide back toward a more constitutionally originalist approach? Only time will tell, but one thing is clear: Trump’s judicial agenda is about to hit full throttle.
