WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday touted the number of federal judicial nominees confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate during his presidency at a White House event.
Trump, speaking in the East Room, said that more than 150 of his judicial nominees have been confirmed by the Senate and dozens more are going to be confirmed "within the next short period of time."
"The pace of appointments is only accelerating. It's going very quickly," he said.
The president also noted that the average age of his circuit court nominees is less than 50, 10 years younger than that of his predecessor Barack Obama's circuit nominees.
According to the White House, the Senate has so far confirmed 158 judicial nominees by Trump, including two Supreme Court justices, 44 Circuit Court judges, and 112 District Court judges.
Those appointments "have already tipped the balance of numerous Federal courts to a Republican appointed majority," the White House said.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General William Barr, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, and Senator and former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley attended the event, among others.
Trump did not take questions from reporters at the South Lawn following the event. He was en route to a campaign rally in Monroe, U.S. state of Louisiana, to support Republican Eddie Rispone in his bid to unseat Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards in the state's gubernatorial runoff scheduled for Nov. 16.
The Republican victories on judges came after U.S. Congress nearly halted the confirmation process during Obama's final two years in office, leaving federal courts with more than 100 vacancies when Trump took office.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that those judges will serve Trump's agenda, "not the public interest."
"The result is a judiciary packed with young judges whose views are far outside the mainstream," Feinstein said in a statement. "Instead of serving as neutral arbiters, these judges will push a conservative agenda that will have lasting effects for generations."
Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges, and district court judges are nominated by the U.S. president and confirmed by the Senate, according to the U.S. Constitution.
