Think of the federal bench!
Trump's imprint on federal courts could be his enduring legacy
Trump's imprint on federal courts could be his enduring legacy - CBS News
April 6, 2020
Washington — "Leave no vacancy behind."
It's the motto that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said he intends to follow for President Trump's fourth year in office as he continues his charge to confirm a record number of judges to the federal bench.
And it's a motto that McConnell has seldom deviated from over the course of Mr. Trump's first term, leading the president to make significant strides in reshaping the federal judiciary.
Since his inauguration in January 2017, Mr. Trump — with McConnell's assistance — has appointed 193 judges to the federal bench, including 51 to the nation's 13 courts of appeals, where there are a total of 179 authorized judgeships. Even as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Trump has continued to charge ahead with judicial nominees, with the White House announcing last week the president would nominate Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Cory Wilson to fill a vacancy on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Judge Justin Walker to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The president's unrelenting focus on the federal judiciary, his supporters and detractors agree, will be one of Mr. Trump's enduring legacies.