President Biden Has Ended the Racial Disparity on the Federal Bench for Black and Asian Americans

     I saw an article urging President Biden to act more quickly on appointing federal judges to the bench, and my reaction was simply to shake my head in dismay. Since taking office, President Biden has appointed 120 judges to the federal bench, a faster pace than any president in U.S. history. As we enter the second half of the year, President Biden is picking up the pace of nominations to ensure as many as possible can be confirmed by the end of the year. Just last week, President Biden announced 17 more nominations to the federal bench. 70 of his nominees have already been confirmed; for reference, Donald Trump confirmed 85 judges in his first two years as president. The record is currently held by Bill Clinton, who confirmed 128 federal judges in his first two years as president. If President Biden makes just one or two more nomination announcements and all of his nominees are confirmed, President Biden is on track to break that record and undo Trump's damage to every court save the Supreme Court, which will take a much more sustained effort.

     These are diverse, qualified nominees. After a righteous outcry, President Biden declined to nominate Chad Meredith to a judicial vacancy in Kentucky; the nomination was a bad one, the timing was even worse, and, in today's world, even one bad federal judge is one too many. I think what ultimately sank the nomination was the fact that at least 48 Democrats and a handful of Republicans would have voted against the nomination; it had no chance of passing, and that was even if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer allowed his nomination up for a vote at all. Instead, this week the Senate will confirm J. Michelle Childs, Gregory B. Williams, Natasha C. Merle-- all black-- and numerous other judges to the federal bench.

     Last week's nominations were important for another reason, as well: they brought the number of black female federal judges appointed by President Biden to 24, which is enough to end the racial disparity on the federal bench not only for black women, but for black Americans in general, with black men already being fully represented on the federal bench when President Biden took office. If all of these nominees are confirmed, President Biden is also on track to confirm more black women to the bench than any president in history: Obama appointed a record 27 in eight years. while Biden has appointed 24 in just 18 months. With potentially dozens more nominees to be announced, appointed the most black women of any president is something that can be achieved this year.

     President Biden has also appointed more Asian women to the bench than not only any president in U.S. history, but than all prior presidents combined. This ended the disparity among Asian women. Aside from 13 Asian women, President Biden has appointed five Asian men; just one more Asian man will end the disparity among Asian men and women, and therefore Asians overall, on the federal bench. President Obama also holds the record for Asians appointed to the federal bench: 26 in eight years. With 18 in 18 months, President Biden is on track to break this record if Democrats keep the Senate in November. I'm proud to say this includes the first Muslim man and woman to serve as federal judges in the United States.

     There's still so much work to do: President Biden has appointed 28 Hispanic judges, placing him on track to beat the record of 40 Hispanic judges set by Obama if Democrats can keep the Senate in 2022. President Biden has appointed seven LGBT2SQIA+ judges; President Obama's record is 15. President Biden has appointed a record three Native American federal judges; doubling that number will give him the claim of having appointed more Native American federal judges than all prior presidents combined. I'd like to see the first transgender federal judge in U.S. history, with President Clinton laying claim to the first open LGBT2SQIA+ and Native American federal judges and President Biden already laying claim to the first Muslim federal judges. The judiciary is my top priority, and President Biden is on track to deliver big results.