30: The estimated number for Democratic-appointed appeals judges eligible for senior status at the start of Biden’s term. Trump and McConnell have overseen the confirmation of 53 judges to the federal appeals courts, leading to 1 in every 3 circuit judges being a Trump nominee. The administration inherited a slate of vacancies after McConnell blocked dozens of judicial nominations toward the end of President Barack Obama’s second term, which allowed Trump to fill those seats.
There are two recent vacancies on the appeals courts: One on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, to fill Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s seat, and another on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit after the death of Judge Juan Torruella. Judge Joel Flaum, also on the Seventh Circuit, is set to take senior status on Nov. 30. It’s a near certainty that Trump would act to fill those seats before leaving office.
Even with a limited number of inherited vacancies, Biden would still have a chance to appoint judges to the appeals court. Russell Wheeler, a visiting fellow with the Brookings Institution who studies judicial confirmations, recently estimated that about 30 Democratic nominees on the appeals court are eligible for senior status, and inherit 25 to 40 district court vacancies. If those judges step down, the Biden White House would be able to fill those seats—but because they are Democratic appointees, Biden will have far less of a chance to reshape the appeals courts.
Law360 has Biden Win May Lead to First Black Female Justice, which asserts:
Another contender for Biden's first Supreme Court nomination is 44-year-old California Supreme Court Associate Justice Leondra R. Kruger, a former U.S. Department of Justice official. Justice Kruger argued 12 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court as an assistant to the U.S. solicitor general between 2007 and 2013. She later became the deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel. A Los Angeles-area native, Justice Kruger received her law degree from Yale Law School and went on to clerk for Judge David S. Tatel on the D.C. Circuit and Justice John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed to the California Supreme Court in 2015 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat.
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