President Joe Biden (D) has appointed and the U.S. Senate has confirmed 69 Article III federal judges through July 1 of Biden’s second year in office. This is the second-most Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidencies since 1981. President Bill Clinton (D) appointed the most judges by this point in his presidency with 72. The Senate had confirmed 42 of President Donald Trump’s (R) appointees at this point in his term.
The average number of federal judges appointed by a president through July 1 of their second year in office is 56.
- The median number of Supreme Court appointees is one. Five presidents (Reagan, Clinton, Obama, Trump, and Biden) made one appointment. Two presidents (H.W. Bush and W. Bush) had not appointed any.
- The median number of United States Court of Appeals appointees is 14. Trump had the most appointees with 21, followed by Biden with 16. Obama appointed the fewest with nine.
- The median number of United States District Court appointees is 48. Clinton had the most appointees with 60, followed by Biden with 52. Trump appointed the fewest with 20.
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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