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How many federal judges (Supreme, circuit, district) did Trump appoint in total compared with Biden, Obama, and George W. Bush?
Executive summary
Counting Article III judges is messy because sources report slightly different tallies and metrics (nominations vs. confirmations vs. sitting judges). Ballotpedia and related compilations show Joe Biden made roughly 235 Article III confirmations through four years (and had about 237 sitting Article III judges as of Nov. 24, 2025), Donald Trump’s total is reported between 234–253 Article III judges depending on the snapshot (Ballotpedia lists 245 appointments and 234 Article III in one place, Wikipedia lists 253 confirmed as of Nov. 21, 2025), Barack Obama made roughly 334 total Article III appointments across two terms and George W. Bush about 103 still-serving Article III judges as of Nov. 24, 2025 [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What different counts mean — nominations, confirmations, appointments, and sitting judges
Observers use four related but distinct numbers: nominees sent to the Senate, judges the Senate confirmed, presidents’ “appointments” (often used interchangeably with confirmations), and the number of active Article III judges currently sitting who were appointed by a president; Ballotpedia’s pages mix these terms in different entries (for example, it cites “245 judicial appointments” for Trump in one place and breaks out “234 Article III judges” in another), while Wikipedia reports confirmed Article III judges as of a given date [5] [6] [3].
2. The headline comparisons from the available compilations
Ballotpedia’s aggregated “Federal judicial appointments by president” page lists Biden as having made 235 Article III judicial appointments through his term and credits Trump with 234 (in some snapshots) or 245 total judicial appointments in others; Ballotpedia’s “current federal judges by appointing president” snapshot on Nov. 24, 2025 shows Biden: 237 and Trump: 245 serving Article III judges, while it lists George W. Bush with 103 [1] [2]. Wikipedia’s running list counted 253 Article III judges confirmed for Trump as of Nov. 21, 2025 [3].
3. Why the same president can have several different totals in reporting
Totals change with timing (counts as of different dates), with whether sources count only Article III posts or include other federal judges, with withdrawn or expired nominations, and with whether the figure is “confirmed” or “currently sitting.” Ballotpedia explicitly notes withdrawn nominees and nominees who never received a Senate vote; it also publishes periodic vacancy reports that reframe totals over time [5] [7].
4. Specific notable figures reported in the sources
- Donald Trump: Ballotpedia references “245 judicial appointments” and “234 Article III judges” in different entries; Wikipedia listed 253 Article III judges confirmed by Nov. 21, 2025 (including 3 Supreme Court justices, 60 appeals court judges, 187 district court judges) [5] [3].
- Joe Biden: Ballotpedia and the federal-judge breakdown show Biden made about 235 Article III judicial appointments during his term and the “current judges” snapshot lists Biden with 237 sitting Article III judges as of Nov. 24, 2025 [1] [2].
- Barack Obama: Ballotpedia counts Obama’s two-term total at about 334 appointments through his presidency in one compilation and lists other per-term tallies elsewhere [1] [4].
- George W. Bush: Ballotpedia’s “current federal judges” page lists 103 sitting Article III judges appointed by George W. Bush as of Nov. 24, 2025 [2].
5. Context and caveats readers should know
Different administrations emphasize different court levels (Supreme Court vs. appeals vs. district). For instance, Trump nominated three Supreme Court justices in his first term, a high-impact subset of appointments; Biden appointed more district court judges and a notably more diverse cohort by race and gender in his first term, according to Pew Research analysis [3] [8]. Vacancy counts and Senate control strongly affect how many confirmations a president achieves; Ballotpedia and the Administrative Office publish periodic vacancy counts that shift the context over time [7] [9].
6. Competing viewpoints and implicit agendas in the sources
Ballotpedia is an encyclopedia-style tracker that emphasizes counts and dates; its multiple pages can produce apparently inconsistent snapshots depending on the framing (nominations vs. sitting judges) [5] [1]. Demand Justice is an advocacy group tracking pace and composition and highlights confirmations relative to expectations [10]. Pew Research provides demographic and analytical context about whom presidents appointed [8]. Users should note advocacy groups may stress speed or diversity metrics, while encyclopedic trackers emphasize raw tallies and dates.
7. Bottom line for your original question
Available sources do not present a single undisputed “total” that cleanly compares all four presidents in one row without caveats; Ballotpedia and associated pages give Biden roughly 235 confirmed Article III judges across his term and list Trump in the mid‑240s (with Wikipedia showing a higher 253 confirmed count for Trump as of Nov. 21, 2025), Obama made several hundred across two terms (Ballotpedia cites around 334 over four years) and George W. Bush accounts for about 103 sitting Article III judges on a Nov. 24, 2025 snapshot [1] [2] [3] [4]. If you want a single clean table, I can build one using only one source (e.g., Ballotpedia snapshots) and note the exact date of each figure; tell me which snapshot/date you prefer.