president, and that's why he has beaten all of his recent predecessors in first-year confirmations of federal judges. joe biden's confirmed 42 federal judges is almost double what donald trump confirmed in his first year. you have to go all the way back to 1961 to find a first-year presidency confirming more federal judges than joe biden has confirmed. that was president kennedy. this is the single most important achievement of the first year of the biden presidency, the achievement that will live long after the biden presidency, and it is ignored by the news media as it was in yesterday's press conference, ignored as if it did not happen. joining us now is russell wheeler visiting fellow of governance studies at the brookings institution. thank you very much for joining us, mr. wheeler. what do you see in this very