1. President Trump has appointed the second-most federal judges at this point in his presidency
2. Michigan Supreme Court rules typo does not invalidate recall petitions against state lawmake
3. Quiz: Which two states had artificial official holiday-themed trees in 2019

President Trump has appointed the second-most federal judges at this point in his presidency

President Donald Trump (R) appointed the second-most Article III judges at this point in his term of all presidents dating back to Theodore Roosevelt (1901).

Through Dec. 31, 2019, the Senate confirmed 187 Article III federal judges. Only Jimmy Carter (D)—who appointed 197 federal judges—had more. 

The average number of federal judges appointed by a president at the end of their third year in office during this period is 99. 

Article III federal judges are appointed for life terms by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate per Article III of the United States Constitution. They include judges on the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. courts of appeal, U.S. district courts, and the Court of International Trade. 

Here is a breakdown of Trump’s judicial appointments by court type:

• Trump has appointed two Supreme Court justices—which is the median of all presidents. William Howard Taft (R) appointed five Supreme Court justices, the most of any president during this period. Three presidents—Franklin Roosevelt (D), Carter, and George W. Bush (R)—did not appoint any such justices through the end of their third year in office. 

• Trump has appointed 50 United States Court of Appeals judges, the most of any president at this point in his presidency. His 50 appointments comprise 28% of the total 179 judgeships across the courts of appeal. Carter appointed the second-most federal appeals court judges with 46. Among the last 20 presidents, the fewest number of federal appeals court judges appointed by this point in a presidency is Woodrow Wilson’s (D) five. The median number of federal appeals court judges appointed by all presidents during this time is 19. 

• Trump has appointed 133 United States District Court judges, which make up 20% of the 677 judges across the district courts. Over the last 20 presidents, Bill Clinton (D) appointed the most U.S. District Court judges through the end of his third year in office—151. Theodore Roosevelt named the fewest with 14. The median number of U.S. District Court judges appointed by all presidents during this time is 67.  

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Michigan Supreme Court rules typo does not invalidate recall petitions against state lawmaker 

Last month, we updated our story about the recall effort against a Michigan lawmaker that the state elections division rejected due to a typo in the signature petitions. Supporters of the recall against State Rep. Larry Inman (R) submitted more than the required number of signatures on Nov. 22 to trigger a recall election. However, the state Bureau of Elections rejected the recall effort on Nov. 29 because the signed petitions omitted a word from the previously approved language.  

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Dec. 30 that a missing word was not a valid reason to throw out the signatures submitted by recall organizers. The court found that “The recall petition is proper because the reasons given for recall in the circulated petitions were not different than the reasons that were approved by the Board of Canvassers.” This order reversed a Dec. 20 ruling by the state Court of Appeals that upheld the original decision by the Bureau of Elections. 

Inman will face a recall election in May 2020 if the state Bureau of Elections determines that supporters submitted enough valid signatures. An initial review found that 1,763 of the 13,870 signatures submitted were invalid, which left the effort 94 short of the 12,201 needed to force a recall election.

According to the petition language, supporters sought to recall Inman due to his indictment on three felony counts and missing more than 80 votes during the 2019 legislative session. Federal prosecutors charged Inman in May 2019 with extortion, lying to the FBI, and lying to investigators about texts soliciting contributions. On Aug. 29, the state House passed a resolution urging him to resign by a 98-8 vote. Inman was found not guilty on Dec. 10 of making a false statement to the FBI. The jury could not decide the charges of attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe. 

Since 2011, 85 recall petitions were filed against state lawmakers. Nine recalls were successful, nine were defeated at the ballot, 64 did not go to a vote, and three are still ongoing. The last Michigan legislator recalled was Rep. Paul Scott (R) in 2011. 

ICYMI, we recently released our 2019 Year-End Recall Report. Nationwide, we tracked 151 recall efforts against 230 elected officials, which represents a 27% decline compared to the 206 recall efforts that targeted 299 officials in 2018. In addition to fewer recalls overall, a lower percentage of recall elections in 2019 also resulted in the targeted officials’ removal from office. Of the 66 officials whose recalls reached the ballot, 34—or 52%—were recalled.

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