[FLT-bird]

Obama appointed 55 to the circuit courts. We’ve made tremendous progress in two years but we’re only half way to undoing the damage.

[Ancesthntr]

Even Trump has to start from zero. But he’s very much on course to out-appoint Obama, and there’s even a bill to expand the Judiciary on the District level (51 more judges) and the Circuit level (12 more judges). BTW, those levels are sought by the legal profession even assuming that the existing places are 100% filled. There are still 100 or so vacancies.

He will likely have appointed more Circuit Court judges than O before the end of his first term, and will way surpass him by the end of his 2nd. More importantly, I think that Trump has a real shot at naming 5 USSC Justices: Gorsuch and Kavanaugh already, plus replacements for Breyer, Thomas (middle of the 2nd term...I don’t think he’s that ready to leave yet) and, of course, Notorious RBG. Sotomayor would be a bonus.

The only serious question is: how much will the Earth’s water levels rise because of all of the liberal tears?

[Ancesthntr]

“Obama appointed 55 to the circuit courts. We’ve made tremendous progress in two years but we’re only half way to undoing the damage.”

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FYI, I know one of the Senior Circuit Court judges - Norman Stahl of the 1st Circuit. He’s a distant cousin of my wife, and he’s now 87. He was appointed by Bush 41. I doubt that he’d remember me - we had dinner about 18 years ago at his brother’s house in New Hampshire one Friday night. He seemed disappointed that I was practicing as a CPA despite having a law degree - oh, well, too bad.

But the point is that he’s 87. I certainly don’t wish him badly - not as a human being, and not as a relative. But now or in the near future would be a good time to resign and spend his remaining years with his wife and kids. I’m thinking that the Bush clan is now less unfavorably disposed toward Trump, given his very vigorous defense of Kavanaugh (who worked directly under Bush 43).