58 Percent of Current Federal Judiciary Appointed by Democratic Presidents

As of July 12, 2018 there were 725 active federal judges in the United States. Fifty-eight percent of them were appointed by a Democratic president (44 percent by Barack Obama and 14 percent by Bill Clinton). The remaining 42 percent were appointed by Republicans (6 percent by Donald Trump, 30 percent by George W. Bush, 3 percent by George H.W. Bush, and 3 percent by Ronald Reagan).[1]

Democratic appointees account for 61 percent of district court judges. At the appeals court level, the numbers are fairly even — 51 percent appointed by Democrats and 49 percent by Republicans. On the Supreme Court, however, GOP appointees have a slight edge; five of the current justices (including Kennedy) have been appointed by Republicans.

Footnotes:

1. Pew Research Center, "With another Supreme Court pick, Trump is leaving his mark on higher federal courts," July 16, 2018

Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.

Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.