An Overview of the First 150 Lifetime Judges Confirmed During the Biden Administration

Courts Resources 11.7.23

With the confirmation of Judge Kenly Kato and Julia Kobick today to federal district courts in California and Massachusetts, respectively, the Senate has confirmed 150 lifetime judges during the Biden administration. President Biden’s appointees have been historically diverse — both personally and professionally — and have included brilliant jurists like Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who the Senate confirmed last year as the first Black woman and first former public defender to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justice Jackson’s historic confirmation matters tremendously for the future of equal justice in America. But President Biden’s appointees to federal circuit and district courts — including Justice Jackson’s previous confirmation to the D.C. Circuit — also deserve recognition for the underrepresented legal backgrounds and lived experiences they bring to our federal judiciary.

We celebrate this long overdue and important progress and thank President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Durbin for their leadership. These lifetime judges will decide important issues — from voting rights to equal pay to health care access. Still, there remains so much at stake, and we urge President Biden and all senators to fill the remaining judicial vacancies with diverse nominees committed to civil and human rights.

Lifetime judicial confirmations during the Biden administration

150 lifetime confirmations

  • The Senate has confirmed one Supreme Court justice, 36 circuit court judges, and 113 district court judges. Every confirmed judge who was supported by The Leadership Conference, including more information about their backgrounds, is available here.
  • Professional diversity: Nearly half (74) of the confirmations have been individuals who were public defenders or civil rights lawyers (or both) or who dedicated a significant portion of their careers to protecting people’s civil and human rights.
  • 100 confirmations of women, or two-thirds of all lifetime confirmations.
  • 63 women of color, including Native American women (more than 40 percent of all confirmations).
  • 98 people of color, including Native Americans (nearly two-thirds).
  • Black: 49 Black judges have been confirmed to lifetime judgeships, including 32 Black women. When the four pending judicial nominees who are Black women are confirmed, President Biden will have the same number of Black women appointees as Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump combined.
  • Native American: President Biden has appointed three Native American lifetime judges. When Sara Hill is confirmed to the N.D. of Oklahoma, she will be the eighth Native American lifetime judge in our nation’s history — and half will be Biden appointees.
  • Latino/a: President Biden has appointed 27 Latino/a lifetime judges (nearly one third of the 84 active Latino/a lifetime judges). Cloture has also been filed on Ramon Reyes, Mónica Ramírez Almadani, and Judge Ana de Alba — which will bring the total to 30 when they are confirmed.
  • Asian American and Pacific Islander: President Biden has appointed 26 AAPI judges, including 18 AAPI women.
  • LGBTQ: President Biden has appointed nine openly LGBTQ lifetime judges and is poised to surpass President Obama’ record of 11 openly LGBTQ lifetime judges.
  • Disability: At least two Biden appointees (Jamal Whitehead and Rita Lin) are living with a known disability.

Circuit courts

  • The Senate has confirmed 36 circuit court judges during the Biden administration.
  • Women: Three-fourths (27) of confirmed circuit court judges are women, and more than half of all confirmed circuit court judges (19) are women of color.
  • People of color: Nearly 70 percent (25) of confirmed circuit court judges are people of color.
  • Black: The Senate has confirmed 14 Black judges to federal appellate courts, including 13 Black women. Before President Biden, only eight Black women had ever served at this level of our federal judiciary.
  • Latino/a + AAPI: Five confirmed circuit court judges are Latino/a and six are AAPI. Two Latina circuit court nominees, Ana de Alba and Irma Ramirez, are pending before the Senate.
  • LGBTQ: President Biden appointed the first openly LGBTQ woman to ever serve on any federal appellate court in our nation’s history — Judge Beth Robinson (Second Circuit). He later appointed Judge Alison Nathan, who is also openly LGBTQ, to the same court.
  • Professional diversity: More than three-quarters (28) of confirmed circuit court judges bring important legal backgrounds either as former public defenders or civil rights lawyers, or who have otherwise dedicated a significant portion of their careers to protecting people’s civil and human rights.

District courts

  • The Senate has confirmed 113 district court judges during the Biden administration.
  • Women: 72 women have been confirmed to lifetime judgeships on federal district courts (more than 60 percent of confirmed district court judges). This includes 43 women of color, including Native American women.
  • People of color: 72 people of color, including Native Americans (more than 60 percent).
  • Black: 34 confirmed district court judges are Black (more than 30 percent), including 18 Black women.
  • Latino/a: 22 confirmed district court judges are Latino/a (nearly 20 percent), including 14 Latina judges.
  • AAPI: 20 confirmed district court judges are AAPI, including 13 AAPI women.
  • Native: Three confirmed district court judges are Native American, and they are all women.
  • LGBTQ: Seven confirmed district court judges are openly LGBTQ people.
  • Professional diversity: More than 40 percent of confirmed district court judges bring important legal backgrounds either as former public defenders or civil rights lawyers, or who have otherwise dedicated a significant portion of their careers to protecting people’s civil and human rights.

The White House and Senate must accelerate progress and continue nominating and confirming highly qualified individuals who are professionally and demographically diverse and committed to civil and human rights. Communities across the country depend on federal courts and federal judges to fairly administer justice — and we must do everything to ensure that they do.

Nominees supported by The Leadership Conference who are pending before the Senate

Confirmed judges supported by The Leadership Conference (in order of confirmation)