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FACT BRIEF

Has President Joe Biden only nominated five white men for federal judgeships as of June 2023?

By Tom Kertscher
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NO

As of June 2, 2023, President Joe Biden had nominated 127 people to federal judgeships, including 13 white men, that were confirmed by the Senate.

According to searches of a database of the Federal Judicial Center, a government office, the 127 judges include the following white men: Robert Ballou, Matthew Brookman, Daniel Calabretta, Michael Farbiarz, Gordon Gallagher, Toby Heytens, Anthony Johnstone, Robert Kirsch, Stephen Locher, John Murphy, Michael Nachmanoff, Andrew Schopler and Leonard Stark.

Including the Supreme Court, 46% of the federal judiciary's judges were white men as of January 2023, according to The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom.

In December 2022, Bloomberg News reported Biden had appointed 97 judges including five white men, in his first two years. That list included Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, who represents parts of northeastern Wisconsin, cited those figures — now outdated — in House floor remarks on May 25, 2023.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
DocumentCloud Search Results Number of judges matching the search criteria: 127
Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-present
Bloomberg Law Biden Builds Judicial Legacy With Diversified Federal Courts
The 19th Two years in, Biden has prioritized nominating women of color as judges
C-SPAN (4:54:55) U.S. House of Representatives House Session, Part 2
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.