WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday reached a milestone of appointing a record number - 158 - of federal judges within three years of his term.
In all, President Trump's two Supreme Court nominees, 44 Circuit Court nominees, and 112 nominees to District Courts have been confirmed by the Congress so far.
No president in recent history has nominated more circuit judges by this point.
Addressing top Republican lawmakers and Justice Department officials in the White House, Trump announced that within the next two months, the strength of federal judges will increase to 182.
'While I'm your President, we will continue to nominate highly qualified judges who truly love our Constitution,' he added.
Trump said that once all pending nominations are confirmed, he will have appointed about 219 judges. 'And that number will go up very substantially from that.'
Trump's appointments have already tipped the balance of numerous Federal courts to a Republican appointed majority. This includes the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Many other Federal courts have been tilted from an even split to a Republican-appointed majority.
The Second and Eleventh Circuits are likely to flip by the end of this year.
The White House said that the average age of circuit judges appointed by Trump is less than 50 years old, 10 years younger than the average age of President Obama's circuit nominees.
Trump said he will do everything in his power to halt judicial activism. He accused the left-wing activists of trying to take the powers of the elected branches and give that power to un-elected federal judges.
'They want to impose by judicial decree what they failed to win at the ballot box'.
'When judges write policy instead of applying the law, they impose sweeping changes on millions of Americans without the benefit of legislative debate, public rule-making, or the consent of the governed,' Trump told the senators.
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