President Joe Biden will bid farewell to the president-elect on January 20, 2025, providing an opportunity to reflect on his legacy in the federal courts.

Many would argue that Biden's influence on the court is largely based on his appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the nation's first black female Supreme Court Justice.

But Biden’s judicial legacy spans decades and extends far beyond the makeup of the current Supreme Court.

As a leading scholar of the federal courts, I believe Biden’s judicial impact is most significant in three areas: his role in confirming Clarence Thomas in 1991; Historic efforts to diversify the bench, and his decision to veto legislation in 2024 to expand the number of federal district court judges.

Chairman Biden’s Impact

As a senator, Biden served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1987 to 1995. During that time, Biden oversaw Senate deliberations on hundreds of federal court appointments, including six Supreme Court nominees.

His role in the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was notable for the way he handled sexual harassment allegations against the nominee.

Thomas was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to succeed liberal icon Thurgood Marshall, the nation's first black Supreme Court justice.

Replacing the liberal Marshall with the conservative Thomas has the potential to change the ideological makeup of the court. As a result, Thomas' confirmation hearings are sure to be controversial.

But things became particularly heated when Anita Hill, a former colleague of Thomas's, accused Thomas of sexually harassing her while he worked at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

It is ultimately up to Biden, as committee chairman, to decide how he handles the investigation into the allegations.

Perhaps Biden's most controversial decision was his refusal to allow senators to hear from witnesses willing to testify under oath to substantiate Hill's allegations. Biden said in a 2017 interview that witnesses dropped out at the last minute. But that explanation was disputed by at least one witness, who said she was never called to testify.

Although we'll never know for sure, this testimony could overturn Thomas' confirmation. Instead, the Senate confirmed him in a 52-48 vote.

Much later, Biden recognized that his handling of Hill's allegations would become an issue in his 2020 presidential campaign. So Biden contacted Hill before announcing his candidacy. In that call, he expressed regret for her experience at the hearing, but he did not apologize.

Biden's federal court appointments

As president, Biden's primary legacy involves his historic efforts to diversify the federal bench in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation and religion of judicial nominees.

Biden has appointed more female judges than any president before him and has appointed the most racially and ethnically diverse group of judges in U.S. history. Biden has also appointed numerous former public defenders to the bench.

Jackson, a black woman and former public defender, is the most high-profile example of this. But Biden has also nominated more than a quarter of current federal judges during his four years as president.

Biden’s efforts to diversify federal judges are important and potentially tangible.

Having diverse judges on the court can increase support for the court among women and people of color. This is important because the courts rely on the public for their legitimacy and the United States has become increasingly diverse over time.

Women judges and judges of color tend to be more progressive than other judges in their decision-making and more often side with litigants who claim their civil rights have been violated. This is especially true for areas in which these judges may have unique perspectives and experiences, such as gender and racial discrimination.

Likewise, research shows that judges who have served as public defenders are less likely to incarcerate convicted criminals and tend to impose shorter sentences on criminals who have been sentenced to prison.

The future of federal courts

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One of the little-known but important final bills of Biden's term involves vetoing the Judges Act of 2024.

The legislation would add 66 judges to the federal courts. Some of these courts are currently understaffed, resulting in overworked judges and delays in the administration of justice.

Although the bill won unanimous support in the Democratic-controlled Senate in August 2024, the Republican-led House refused to vote on the bill until after the 2024 election.

This is a strategic move that will ensure that election winner Donald Trump will appoint the first 25 judges under the legislation.

Biden said he vetoed the legislation because there were outstanding questions that needed to be answered, such as how new judgeships would be distributed to courts across the country.

But as a federal court scholar, it’s clear to me that Biden’s real motivation is to block Trump’s appointment of the first 25 judges.

Overall, Biden leaves a mixed legacy on the federal courts. On the one hand, he has made unprecedented efforts to ensure that federal courts look like the people they represent. He also resisted efforts to move the court in a conservative direction during Trump's second term.

Biden, on the other hand, played an important role in the confirmation process of Justice Thomas, one of the most conservative justices in American history.