Ryan Helfenbein, executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center, in an interview with NTD News Today on Nov. 2, 2022. NTD/Screenshot via The Epoch Times
If Republicans take the Senate majority after the Nov. 8 midterm elections, they could have a significant impact on how many of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees get approved, said Ryan Helfenbein, executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center.
Since taking office, Biden has nominated 144 judges to district and circuit courts, with 27 nominees announced on Oct. 14 amid over 80 current judicial vacancies.
These judges are there to uphold the U.S. Constitution, ensuring equal protection under the law, not to be activists for any ideology or party, he added.
“[The Constitution] is only as good as those men and women who are gaveling in,” Helfenbein said during a recent interview with NTD News Today.
If the GOP takes back the majority in the Senate, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will become the majority leader, “and certainly he will wield the power in the Senate to bring the opposition to the president,” Helfenbein said.
“McConnell certainly is going to be the leader when it comes to judicial appointments,” he added, noting that the appointments come from the president, though they are vetted in the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on July 26, 2022. Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images
The conservative majority in the Supreme Court recently decided that Washington High School football coach Joseph Kennedy should be reinstated and that firing him for praying on the 50-yard line after games violated his freedom of belief. In June, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that the sacking of Kennedy, who is a Christian, violated First Amendment religious freedom protections.
During the Trump presidency, Republican senators were instrumental in approving the three constitutionally conservative Supreme Court judges that now make up the majority in the Supreme Court and the 231 federal district court judges.
The federal court system has three main tiers: district courts (the trial court), circuit courts (the first level of appeal), and the Supreme Court (the final level of appeal). There are 91 district courts, 13 circuit courts, and one Supreme Court across the nation. The district courts have 670 district judges, and there are 179 judgeships in the circuit courts, with the number in each ranging from six (on the First Circuit) to 29 (on the Ninth Circuit). There are nine judges on the Supreme Court.
Map of the federal court of appeals. Courtesy of United States Courts
All federal judges are nominated by the president and approved for lifetime appointments by a Senate majority. While the Supreme Court hears about 80 cases annually, the court of appeals handles tens of thousands of cases each year, making them highly influential.
The lower court judges play a critical role in ensuring religious freedom, said Helfenbein.
“The lower courts are greatly consequential when you consider how many cases, especially on the issue of free speech and religious liberty, … are determined at the lower court level,” said Helfenbein
