America’s Judiciary Doesn’t Look Like America

The identity of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s successor is now in the forefront of the news. The import of that appointment is self-evident. But as the gravity of that singular decision holds the public’s focus in its orbit, the American people must not lose sight of the entirety of the federal judiciary that is substantially controlled by whomever is president.

Over the past four years, the current president has had a tectonic impact on the judiciary, shaping it ideologically and demographically in his own image. The president has already placed 218 judges, all with lifetime appointments, on America’s courts—25 percent of the total federal bench. A partner in this transformation, the U.S. Senate has worked at a breakneck pace, at times confirming more than 10 judges