President Trump has surpassed a major milestone in his record of confirming federal judges, Fox News reports.
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Lawrence VanDyke, Trump’s second nominee to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and his 50th appellate court nominee overall in three years. Just 24 hours earlier, the Senate confirmed another of Trump’s nominees, Patrick Bumatay, to the 9th Circuit as well. Bumatay was confirmed by a 53-40 vote, while VanDyke was confirmed by a 51-44 vote.
Both confirmations were opposed by the Democratic senators from the judges’ home states, with Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) opposing VanDyke, and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) opposing Bumatay.
This now marks the 10th seat on the 9th Circuit, out of 30 overall, held by a Trump-appointed judge. Trump’s current record of 50 confirmed appellate judges far surpasses his predecessor Barack Obama, who had confirmed 55 circuit judges over the course of both terms.