Biden already surpasses Trump in appointing Latino judges

So far, President Joe Biden has appointed more Latino judges than in the entire administration of former President Donald Trump , according to a report from the Federal Judicial System.

21% of the federal judges appointed by President Biden are Hispanic or Latino, that represents a 5% increase during the Trump Administration, according to the report.

Biden has appointed 76 judges to the head of the Government in less than 600 days, three more than during the entire period of George W. Bush , and well above former President Trump with 60, Barack Obama with 42.

Until August, the Democrat had appointed 13 Hispanic or Latino judges , while Trump only appointed 9 in his entire term, according to different analyzes by the Pew Research Center.

A report from that same organization, carried out last August, indicates that in the same period as head of the White House, Trump only appointed one judge of Latino origin, while Biden already has 13.

President Biden is also taking the lead in appointing non-white judges, adding to the diversity in the American judicial system.

The nominations of the Democratic president would not advance without a job in the Senate, where the majority leader, Chuck Schumer (New York), has pushed the confirmation of the judges promoted by Biden.

women in front

President Biden made history by appointing Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson , the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

The figures indicate that 75% of the judges are women , more than 25% under the Trump Administration and with the control of the Republicans in the Senate, where the head of the current minority, Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), led.

Biden has also managed to get 47% of newly appointed judges to be women of color , 4.8% more than during the entire Trump administration.

Additionally, 22% of confirmed judges are black women , nearly 1% more than under the entire Trump term.

“In less than two years, this Senate has confirmed more women, people of color, women of color, black women and Hispanics nominated for lifetime positions in the federal bench than in four years under Donald Trump,” cites a shared report by the Senate based on statistics from the Federal Judicial Office.

At the end of former President Trump's term, Pew reported that the Republican appointed fewer non-white judges than other presidents.

“Approximately one in six of Trump's appointed judges (16%) are black, Hispanic, Asian, or of another race or ethnicity,” the report confirmed. “That is slightly below the proportion of non-white judges appointed by the last Republican president, George W. Bush (18%), and well below the proportion appointed by the last three Democratic presidents: Obama (36%), Clinton (25%) and Jimmy Carter (22%)”.

The Pew notes that Democratic presidents “have been more likely than their Republican counterparts to appoint racial or ethnic minorities” as district or appeals judges.

Schumer defends diversity

In addition to consideration of race or ethnicity, President Biden's appointments mark a milestone in terms of the experience of the new judges, as Senator Schumer points out.

“For too long, federal judiciary positions have been filled by attorneys who have been mostly white males from large law firms or from crime-prosecuting backgrounds,” he said.

Schumer stressed the importance of having a “balance” on the experience of the judges.

“Rebalancing our courts with experienced judicial candidates from diverse backgrounds has been one of my top priorities as Senate Majority Leader,” said Schumer. “Senate Democrats will continue to work to ensure that anyone can aspire to a seat at the government decision-making table.”

To show… a button

In June 2021, President Biden sent four Senate nominations for circuit judges, including Myrna Pérez , to fill a position on the New York-based Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

His confirmation in the Senate occurred in October of that year, with 48 votes in favor and 43 against. The importance of the appointment is not only due to its origin, but also due to the experience in electoral matters.

“With a national focus on voting rights right now, it's a significant step in confirming Ms. Perez, one of the country's leading experts on voting rights and elections, to the federal bench,” Senator Schumer defended in october.

Pérez thus became the second Latina in that position, after Supreme Court judge Sonia Sotomayor .

According to the US Courts Office, there are 82 judicial vacancies and 37 nominations pending confirmation in the Senate.