Biden has done a good job with judge nominations
“The Dems just have been out-maneuvered on judicial nominations/they just don’t seem to care.” “They’re not up for the fight.” “We need the Democrats to act like they care.” (Heard on MSNBC in the space of an hour.)
So the democrats have been totally out-maneuvered on judicial nominations and the federal judiciary at all levels is now controlled for a generation by reactionary Republicans. This is another of those self-evident, true-by-repetition truths. It’s true because everyone knows it’s true. There’s no need to examine it.
And making it worse, the Dems could have done something about it, but they just don’t seem to care. So, carrying this through to its logical conclusion, the Dems don’t deserve our vote.
The problem is, it’s not true.
Yes, when Biden stepped into office, indeed the GOP had a 3-6 lead in the Supreme Court which, barring a 60 vote Dem Senate, seems likely to be around for a while. And that’s very bad news.
The Republicans also had an overall lead in the circuit and district courts as well. Joe Biden can’t do much about the Supreme Court until someone retires, but he has had the best first year for judicial nominations and confirmations of any president in at least 50 years.
And the Democrats have taken a slight edge in the circuit courts and a significant lead in the district courts. There are now 405 federal judges appointed by Dems (Biden 65, Obama 286, Clinton 54) and 389 appointed by Republicans (Trump 229, Bush 43 136, Bush 41 11, Reagan 13). Additionally, there are 77 current vacancies, all of which will become Biden-nominated judges if the Dems retain the Senate. Biden has already nominated 36 judges to fill those vacancies, 20 of which are awaiting a Senate vote, 4 awaiting a committee vote, and 12 awaiting a hearing.
The Dems already control 7 circuit courts, compared to 6 controlled by GOP-appointed judges. At the District Court level, the lead is 42 districts controlled by Dem-appointed judges and 35 led by GOP-appointed judges. Especially when you consider that the Republicans have controlled the Senate eight of 13 Congresses since the Gingrich revolution, that seems pretty effective.
Yes, the Supreme Court is a toxic waste dump, as I’ve written about in several essays. But the lower courts matter, especially the circuits. Most cases that come to the circuit courts end there. Bad as they are, the Supreme Court can only hear so many cases. The 11 circuit courts plus the federal and DC circuits are the final word on the overwhelming majority of cases they hear.
The air of defeatism and rage that is overwhelming the Democratic base is extremely dangerous. The emerging “truth” that Biden has done nothing is equally dangerous – and wrong. Nothing a president does is more important than judicial nominees and Biden is one of the best ever. If the Dems control the Senate for two more years, they will have seized strong control of the lower courts, which is a big deal. In all the hysteria and self-loathing we’ve heard in the past week, why has nobody mentioned this?
The fact is, the Senate Democrats seem to have done an effective job of getting judges confirmed. It’s actually the voters – the same ones getting hysterical now and getting ready to jump ship, who gave Trump three nominees because they couldn’t bear to vote for Hillary and who gave Bush 43 two appointments because they voted for Ralph Nader – who have let us down.
There’s a certain charm in hearing exactly the people who are responsible for those three Trump justices because they refused to vote for Hillary now use the existence of those three justices as an indictment of the Democrats. Let’s hope they don’t repeat their disastrous mistake this fall. (Written by Leon Reed).
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