Reshaping the 9th Circuit in a similar way has long been a goal of conservatives, and Trump’s success there was due not only to the help he received from Republicans in Congress but from some of the most staunchly liberal judges in the 9th Circuit’s history.
It was already a presidential election year, when judicial nominations typically slow, and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, blocked Koh’s nomination. Rather than Obama replacing Pregerson, Trump did so with Daniel Collins, a conservative former federal prosecutor. Judge Jennifer Sung formerly worked as an attorney representing labor organizations and employees. Judge Roopali Desai, the first South Asian person appointed to the court, is the daughter of Indian immigrants. She worked as a civil and voting rights attorney who successfully defended Arizona election officials against a Republican challenge to Biden’s 2020 election.
It is uncommon for younger judges to leave the bench prior to being eligible for senior status, but it does happen — and Biden’s eighth appointment to the 9th Circuit is expected to come as the result of such a departure. With Democrats in control of the Senate and primed to help the president, those judges’ seats could be filled during Biden’s first term if they were to step aside soon, Tobias said.