Donald Trump has successfully appointed more federal appeals court judges so far in his presidency than Barack Obama and George W. Bush combined had appointed at the same point in theirs, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Federal Judicial Center. And with his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Trump soon could install his second justice on the nation’s highest court, too.
But while Trump has already left a considerable imprint on the nation’s higher federal courts, he trails Obama, Bush and other recent presidents in the number of lower-court judges he has appointed to date.
As of July 12, Trump has successfully appointed 43 judges, including one Supreme Court justice (Neil Gorsuch), 22 appeals court judges and 20 district judges. Dozens of other court nominees are awaiting votes in the Senate, including two more appeals court judges who could be confirmed this week.