White men are 75% of Trump’s nominees

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is nominating white men to America’s federal courts at a rate not seen in nearly 30 years, a trend that could reverse a slow transformation toward a judiciary that reflects the nation’s diversity.

Ninety-one percent of Trump’s nominees are white, and 81 percent are male, an Associated Press analysis has found. Three of every four are white men, with few African-Americans and Hispanics in the mix. The last president to nominate a similarly homogenous group was George H.W. Bush.

The shift could prove to be one of Trump’s most enduring legacies. These are lifetime appointments, and Trump has inherited both an unusually high number of vacancies and an aging population of judges. That puts him in position to significantly reshape the courts that decide thousands of civil-rights, environmental, criminal-justice and other disputes across the country. The White House has been upfront about its plan to quickly fill the seats with conservatives, and it has made clear that judicial philosophy tops any concerns about shrinking racial or gender diversity.

Trump calls his imprint on the courts an “untold story” of his presidency. “Nobody wants to talk about it,” he says. “But when you think of it ... that has consequences 40 years out.”

Advocates for putting more women and racial minorities on the bench argue that courts that more closely reflect the demographics of the population ensure a broader range of views and inspire greater confidence in judicial rulings.

Even compared with his Republican predecessors, Trump stands out in his picks, nominating the highest percentage of white judges in his first year since Ronald Reagan.

The AP reviewed 58 nominees to lifetime positions on appellate and district courts, as well as the Supreme Court, by the end of October. Fifty-three are white, three are Asian-American, one is Hispanic and one is AfricanAmerican. There are 47 men and 11 women. Thirteen have won Senate approval.