Trump Boasts of GOP Success Confirming His Judicial Nominees

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump celebrated Republicans’ record on confirming federal judges on Wednesday, saying his administration has done better than any other in terms of “quality and quantity” of judges appointed to the bench.

“We have a lot of great warriors in our party,” Trump said during an event at the White House, calling out Republican senators who have helped move the nominations through.

The president’s comments came as the U.S. Senate is set to confirm Trump’s 45th circuit judge this week. With that vote, he will have appointed about a quarter of all appeals court judges.

Trump has won confirmation of a total of 158 federal judicial nominees, including Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. The president, who on Wednesday named 10 additional judges he intends to nominate, is likely to see more win approval this year than during the first two years of his presidency combined.

The pace of confirmation far exceeds those of his immediate predecessors, a fact that Trump routinely notes in public comments. The GOP’s Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has leveraged his party’s control of the chamber to flood the federal courts with Trump’s picks.

The appointments have led to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals -- which hears cases from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware -- flipping from a majority of judges appointed by Democratic presidents to a majority appointed by Republicans. By the end of the year, similar changes are likely in the Second Circuit, which includes New York, Connecticut and Vermont, and the Eleventh Circuit, which covers Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

During President Barack Obama’s second term, McConnell held up nominees -- including a Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalia death in 2016 -- leaving 86 district court vacancies and 17 circuit court vacancies for Trump to fill. Trump has repeatedly mocked Obama for leaving the positions unfilled.

McConnell has tweaked Senate rules to expedite the confirmation of conservative jurists. In 2017, the GOP lowered the threshold for Supreme Court nominees to 51 votes from 60, and in April the GOP cut debate time for district court judges from 30 hours to just two.

The majority leader has also benefited from a rule change under former Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, who unilaterally reduced the number of votes needed to advance appellate and district court nominees to 51 votes instead of 60.

“Nobody has done more to change the court system in the history of our country than Donald Trump,” McConnell said Monday at a rally in his home state of Kentucky with the president. “And Mr. President, we’re going to keep on doing it. My motto is: Leave no vacancy behind.”

Democrats have complained that the rule changes have given the courts a far-right tilt, and some of the party’s presidential candidates have proposed expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court if elected president.

Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, called efforts by McConnell and Trump to reshape the federal judiciary an “evisceration” of the Constitution.

“It’s not for ordinary Americans, it’s for the rich and powerful, and we have to find a way to stop them,” Merkley told MSNBC on Monday. “And that’s going to be the elections next year.”

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