President Joe Biden (D) has appointed and the Senate has confirmed 40 Article III federal judges through Jan. 1 of his second year in office. This number is the second-most Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidencies since President Ronald Reagan (R). The Senate had confirmed 19 of President Donald Trump’s (R) appointees at this point in his term.

The average number of judicial appointees per president through this period is 26.

By Jan. 1 of his second year, Reagan had the most appointees confirmed with 41. President Barack Obama (D) had the fewest confirmations with 13.

1. The median number of Supreme Court appointees is one. Four presidents (Reagan, Clinton, Obama, and Trump) made one appointment. Three presidents (H.W. Bush, W. Bush, and Biden) had not appointed any.
2. The median number of United States Court of Appeals appointees is six. Trump appointed the most with 12, followed by Biden with 11. Clinton and Obama appointed the fewest with three.
3. The median number of United States District Court appointees is 22. Biden appointed the most with 29. Trump appointed the fewest with six.

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.

Additional reading:

• Appointments by court type
• Judicial vacancies during the Biden administration