JUSTICE Amy Coney Barrett Confirmed to the Supreme Court

President Trump has spent his first four years in office keeping and fulfilling the promises he made to Americans on the campaign trail back in 2016. Last night, President Trump fulfilled yet another promise and appointed a third Constitutionalist to the Supreme Court.

Key Takeaways

• President Trump’s appointment of Judge Amy Coney Barrett and her subsequent confirmation represents a historic appointment to the Supreme Court.
• Judge Barrett is now the fifth woman ever to join the Court and the first Justice to serve while also being a mother with school-age children.
• President Trump becomes the first President since Ronald Reagan to confirm three new Justices and the first since Richard Nixon to confirm three new Justices in one term
• President Trump’s commitment to appointing conservative judges is another promise made, promise kept.
• President Trump campaigned on appointing conservative judges, and released lists of potential Supreme Court nominees to be transparent with the American people. His opponent Joe Biden has still refused to do so.
• President Trump chose from the lists he released, nominating and confirming Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and now Justice Amy Coney Barrett
• President Trump has appointed judges at a historic pace, leaving a lasting legacy by reshaping the federal judiciary for years to come
• President Trump has appointed 220 federal judges so far, the second-most of any U.S. President at this point in his presidency
• President Trump has appointed one out of every four federal judges and has appointed one out of every three appeals court judges
• For the first time in four decades, there are no vacancies on the nation’s appeals courts
• President Trump has flipped the balance of three federal appeals courts and shifted nine appeals courts to the right

PRESIDENT TRUMP IS CEMENTING HIS LEGACY OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS WHO WILL UPHOLD THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND RULE OF LAW AS WRITTEN

The Facts: President Trump Has Kept His Promise To Appoint Conservative Judges

During His 2016 Campaign, Then-Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump Promised Americans That He Would Appoint Conservative Judges Who Would Uphold The Principles Of The U.S. Constitution. “Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees on Wednesday as part of an effort to quell concerns that he would not select conservative jurists… Mr. Trump said in a statement that his shortlist was ‘representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value and, as president, I plan to use this list as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court justices.’ The Trump campaign did not share how it settled on the names, but Mr. Trump has previously said that he was seeking guidance from conservative groups such as the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation.” (Alan Rappeport And Charlie Savage, “Donald Trump Releases List Of Possible Supreme Court Picks, The New York Times, 5/18/16)

• Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, And Barrett Were On These Lists.(Reena Flores And Major Garrett, “Donald Trump Expands List Of Possible Supreme Court Picks,” CBS News, 9/23/16; “President Donald J. Trump’s Supreme Court List,” The White House, 11/17/17)

President Trump Has Reshaped The Federal Judiciary By Appointing Conservative Judges Across All Levels Of The Judiciary. “Though an impeachment trial, a Russia investigation, an Iran crisis and other daily turmoil, President Trump has repeatedly been able to point to one consistent success that has united Republicans — moving conservative justices onto all levels of the federal judiciary. Mr. Trump’s ability to push through judges has been possible in large part because of the success that Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has had in holding open seats during the Obama administration and pushing nominees through after Mr. Trump took office.” (Matt Stevens, “Trump Has Reshaped The Judiciary. Here’s How The 2020 Democrats Would Address That,” The New York Times, 2/8/20)

President Trump Has Appointed One Out Of Every Four Federal Judges – 220 Total

The Senate Has Now Confirmed 220 Article III Judges Nominated By President Donald Trump. (“Pace Of Confirmations.” Article III Project, Accessed 10/26/20)

• 25 Percent Of All Federal Judges, 220 Of The 860 Judgeships, Have Been Appointed By President Trump. (“Pace Of Confirmations.” Article III Project, Accessed 9/9/20; “Authorized Judgeships,” S. Courts, Accessed 10/27/20)

President Trump Has Appointed Judges At The Second-Fastest Pace In History, And Has Appointed Appeals Court Judges At The Second-Fastest Pace In History. (“Pace Of Confirmations,” Article III Project, Accessed 10/27/20)

President Trump Has Nominated And Had Confirmed 53 Judges To U.S. Courts Of Appeals. (“Pace Of Confirmations,” Article III Project, Accessed 10/27/20)

• 30 Percent Of All Federal Appeals Court Judges – 53 Of The 179 Judgeships – Have Been Appointed By President Trump. (“Pace Of Confirmations.” Article III Project, Accessed 9/9/20; “Judicial Vacancies,” S. Courts, Accessed 10/27/20)
• For The First Time In More Than Four Decades, There Are No Appellate Court Vacancies. “For the first time in more than four decades, there are no longer any vacancies on the nation’s appellate courts, the judicial level where most of the major rulings are handed down.” (John Wagner, “Senate Confirms 200th Judicial Nominee From Trump, A Legacy That Will Last Well Beyond November,” The Washington Post,6/23/20; “Judicial Vacancies,” S. Courts, Accessed 10/27/20)

President Trump Has Flipped The Balance Of Three Federal Appeals Courts And Shifted Nine Appeals Courts In A More Conservative Direction

President Trump’s Judicial Appointments Have Flipped The Second Circuit, The Third Circuit, And Eleventh Circuit Courts. “Three circuit courts – the 2nd, based in New York; the 3rd, based in Philadelphia; and the 11th, based in Atlanta – were dominated by Democratic presidents’ nominees when Trump came into office. Now Republican presidents’ nominees are in the majority in each.” (Richard Wolf, “President Trump Has Transformed The Federal Courts, But John Roberts Still Leads Them,” USA Today, 7/1/20)

9 Circuit Courts Have Seen Their Balance Shifted Toward More Republican Appointed Judges. (“Composition Of The Federal Judiciary,” Article III Project, Accessed 10/27/20)