Trump’s imprint on federal courts could be his enduring legacy – By Melissa Quinn (CBS News) / April 6 2020
Washington — “Leave no vacancy behind.”
It’s the motto that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said he intends to follow for President Trump’s fourth year in office as he continues his charge to confirm a record number of judges to the federal bench.
And it’s a motto that McConnell has seldom deviated from over the course of Mr. Trump’s first term, leading the president to make significant strides in reshaping the federal judiciary.
Since his inauguration in January 2017, Mr. Trump — with McConnell’s assistance — has appointed 193 judges to the federal bench, including 51 to the nation’s 13 courts of appeals, where there are a total of 179 authorized judgeships. Even as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Trump has continued to charge ahead with judicial nominees, with the White House announcing last week the president would nominate Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Cory Wilson to fill a vacancy on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Judge Justin Walker to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The president’s unrelenting focus on the federal judiciary, his supporters and detractors agree, will be one of Mr. Trump’s enduring legacies.
“What you’ve got is not just a force of numbers, not just people who are young and are going to be around for a long time, but people who are really driven philosophically and really care about those traditional legal principles that are so integral to the rule of law,” said Leonard Leo, an outside adviser to the White House on judicial selection.
Tens of thousands of cases wind their way through the federal court system annually, but fewer than 100 will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, meaning that for the vast majority of legal battles, the courts of appeals are the last stop. As a result, the judges Mr. Trump names to the federal bench have the opportunity to leave their stamp on the law for years to come.
Today, one in four judges on the courts of appeals were appointed by Mr. Trump and their average age is less than 50, the White House boasts, ensuring they will serve for at least a generation. They are also largely white and male, sparking criticism about a lack of diversity. Of the 51 judges confirmed to the courts of appeals, 11 are women.
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