Senate set to confirm 200th Biden judge as Democrats tout "major milestone"
CBSN
Washington — The Senate on Wednesday is set to confirm President Biden's 200th judicial nominee, surpassing the number of appointments to the federal judiciary made by his two most recent predecessors at this point in their presidencies.
The Senate will mark the milestone after its approval of Krissa Lanham on Tuesday and with the vote on Angela Martinez's confirmation Wednesday to seats on the federal district court in Arizona. With the confirmations of the nominees to the federal bench, Mr. Biden will have placed 42 judges on the U.S. courts of appeals, 155 judges on the U.S. district courts and two on the Court of International Trade. He also named Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court in 2022, a history-making nomination as she became the first Black woman to serve on the nation's highest court.
There are 43 current open seats on the federal judiciary, and another 28 future vacancies, according to the U.S. Courts. Mr. Biden has two dozen nominees pending. The country has more than 860 authorized judgeships.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday that a decision by the U.S. or its NATO allies to allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia would be viewed as NATO's direct participation in the war, which he said would significantly change "the very nature of the conflict."