With Senate majority, Biden sets his sights on the judiciary

US federal courts look quite different than they did two years ago. Since taking office, Joe Biden has made it a top priority to appoint a diverse slate of judicial nominees, who have helped change the face of the nation's court system.

- Joan E Greve

Democrats have used their narrow majority in the Senate to confirm roughly 100 of Biden's judicial nominees - including Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the supreme court. After maintaining control of the Senate in the midterm elections, Democrats are well positioned to confirm even more federal judges in the next two years. But Biden has a long way to go before he can match Donald Trump's historic impact on the federal judiciary.

Federal judges carry a unique responsibility in the US system of government because they have lifetime appointments. They often serve on the bench for decades, delivering wide-reaching decisions on everything from abortion access to environmental policy to gun safety. The crucial federal appeals courts often serve as the final stop before a case heads to the supreme court.

So far, Biden has moved at an impressive clip to get liberal judges confirmed to federal courts. In 2021, the president oversaw more first-year federal court appointments than any president since John F Kennedy, according to an analysis from Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution.