Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) complained on Thursday that President Joe Biden is not appointing enough straight white male federal judges.
“Apparently his first two years President Biden appointed 97 federal judges,” Grothman said in a speech on the House floor. “Of the 97 federal judges I was expecting maybe 25 or 30 were white guys….Five of the 97 judges were white guys. Of those, two were gay. So, almost impossible for a white guy who’s not gay, apparently, to get appointed here.”
Diversifying the federal courts has been a top priority of the Biden administration since day one. Of the 97 judges Biden appointed in his first two years in office, 75% are women, 47% are women of color and 67% are people of color, according to an analysis done by 19th News. That includes Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, Dana Douglas, the first Black woman to serve on the 5th Circuit appeals court and Doris Pryor, the first Black judge to serve on the 7th Circuit appeals court from Indiana.
However, there’s still a long way to go as the federal bench remains largely white and male, even as Rep. Grothman calls for more straight white male representation.
According to the American Bar Association, 79% of all sitting Article III federal judges are male; 78% are white. Only 4% of all federal judges are Black women.
