Durbin Celebrates 235 Federal Judges Confirmed During The Biden-Harris Administration

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today celebrated the confirmation of Benjamin J. Cheeks to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of California and Serena Raquel Murillo to be a United States District Judge for the Central District of California. These nominees mark the 234th and 235th lifetime judicial appointments confirmed under Senate Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration. This breaks the record of 234 judges confirmed during the first Trump administration.

“Today, we celebrate one of the most important accomplishments of this Democratic Senate and the Biden-Harris administration: the confirmation of highly qualified, independent, and evenhanded judges to the federal bench.

“When I became Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, filling judicial vacancies and rebalancing the bench was one of my highest priorities. But we faced a challenging situation. The first two years of the Biden-Harris administration coincided with the longest evenly-divided Senate in history. And for the past two years, Democrats have held only a narrow majority. On top of that, the Biden administration had fewer vacancies to fill than the Trump administration did—in fact, less than half.

“Still, we succeeded beyond what any of us could have hoped for: 235 judges confirmed. More than one out of every four judges now serving on the judicial bench was nominated by President Biden. 

“This is an extraordinary slate of judges who are ruling with reason and restraint. They respect the rule of law, adhere to precedent, and answer only to the U.S. Constitution. They are highly qualified and both professionally and demographically diverse. Another notable aspect of this record is that the vast majority—more than 80 percent—of these confirmations have been bipartisan.

“It has been a true honor to serve as Chair of the Judiciary Committee and work to get this exceptional slate of judges confirmed. I’m grateful for the opportunity and look forward to witnessing these talented jurists’ continued accomplishments.”

These 235 confirmations highlight Democrats’ work filling judicial vacancies with highly qualified, diverse candidates who help ensure the fair and impartial administration of the American justice system, and these judges are already making significant contributions to protect our freedoms and democracy on the bench. Notably, Democrats have accomplished this feat during the longest 50-50 Senate in history and now with a narrow majority, as well as fewer available vacancies on the first day of the Biden-Harris administration (46) than the first day of the first Trump Administration (108).

The 235 judicial confirmations include: 187 district court nominees; 45 circuit court nominees; one Supreme Court nominee; and two Court of International Trade nominees. Of those: about two-thirds are women; about two-thirds are people of color; and about two-fifths are women of color.

In comparison to other presidents’ entire terms, this Senate has confirmed:

• More women of color to the bench than any other president.
• More Black women to judgeships than any other president, including more Black women to circuit court judgeships than all other presidents combined.
• More women to judgeships than any president.
• More people of color to circuit court judgeships than any other president.
• More public defenders to circuit court judgeships than any other president.
• More LGBTQ+ individuals to the bench than any other president.

These historic judges confirmed include:

• The first Black woman and public defender confirmed to the Supreme Court.
• The first Muslim American man and woman on the federal bench.
• The first out lesbian to serve on any federal circuit court.
• The first Asian American judge and first Black woman judge on the Third Circuit.
• The first Latina judge to serve on the Fifth Circuit.
• The first Hispanic judges to serve on the D.C. and Seventh Circuits.
• The first Asian American judge to serve on the Seventh Circuit.
• The first Black judge on the Federal Circuit.
• The first Navajo federal judge.
• Half of all Native federal judges ever confirmed.
• The first female federal judge in the District of Idaho.
• The first person of color on the federal bench in the Western District of Louisiana.
• The first female Native American federal judge in the District of Oklahoma.
• The first openly LGBTQ federal judge and the first Asian American federal judge in Colorado.
• The first Black woman to serve as a federal judge in Oregon.
• The first Asian American federal judge in the Western District of Washington.
• The first Hispanic district judge in Ohio.
• The first Asian American federal judge in the Western District of Virginia.
• The first Asian American federal judge in the Western District of New York.

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