During his first term in office, President Trump has already solidified his legacy of remaking the courts and appointing conservative, constitutional loyalists to the federal bench.
Today, Rodolfo Armando Ruiz became the 100th judge to be confirmed under President Trump's tenure in the White House.
Senate just confirmd 100th judge nominated by PresTrump I held hrings for 99 of 100 Continuing record brking Pres/GOP success Strict constructionists that read law/constitution as written instead of what suits their political goals is good4 country& thats what trumps noms stand 4
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 2, 2019
Congratulations to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Rodolfo Armando Ruiz II whom the US Senate approved 90-8 vote to become a Federal Judge in the Southern District of Florida! God Bless America! Alex Hanna. pic.twitter.com/pvJoB3Ka9d
— Alex Hanna (@AlexHannaLawyer) May 2, 2019
Confirmed, 90-8: Executive Calendar #33 Rodolfo Armando Ruiz II to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida
— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) May 2, 2019
90-8: Senate confirms Rodolfo Ruiz to be US District judge for Southern Florida, the 100th federal judge overall approved by Senate of Trump presidency:
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) May 2, 2019
61 District Court judges
37 Circuit Court judges
2 Supreme Court justices pic.twitter.com/nBNu5jwC63
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell deserves much of the credit for making this happen and plans to keep the process moving. In March, he moved to change Senate rules to help streamline nominees being blocked by Democrats. From Roll Call:
The Senate voted last week to change the body's debate rules and further speed up the confirmation of the president's picks for district court judges.
Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cited what he called the Democrats’ “systematic obstruction” of the president's nominees as the reason for the change. Previously, district court nominees had taken a backseat as Senate Republicans pushed to get President Donald Trump’s circuit court picks through.
Trump has placed 53 district court judges on the bench since taking office, though none this Congress until the rule change. Those nominees had waited, on average, just over seven months to be confirmed — longer than all but one Congress since Ronald Reagan took office. (The exception was the final two years of Barack Obama’s presidency when his 18 confirmed district court picks waited an average of nearly nine months for the McConnell-led Senate to let them through.)