President Joe Biden's 200th judge, an Arizona woman, confirmed in 66-28 Senate vote

May 22 (UPI) -- The Senate on Wednesday in a 66-28 vote confirmed the 200th judge appointed by President Joe Biden since taking office January 2021 in what some have called "a milestone" for the administration.

After the confirmation vote, the White House thanked Senate leadership and Republican senators who voted for Judge Angela Martinez, calling it "another milestone in the effort to protect the freedoms and liberties of all Americans" as they touted Biden's "exceptionally well-qualified" judicial appointments which they say now represent 64% of women and 62% as people of color.

"Judges matter," Biden said in a statement. "These men and women have the power to uphold basic rights or to roll them back."

The vote to confirm Martinez to a seat on the federal district court in Arizona comes after the Senate on Tuesday the day before approved the appointment of Krissa Lanham in a 66-26 Senate vote to the same court as Martinez.

"They hear cases that decide whether women have the freedom to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions; whether Americans have the freedom to cast their ballots," the president said, and whether workers "have the freedom to unionize and make a living wage for their families, and whether children have the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water."

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer hailed the vote as a "major milestone," calling Biden's appointees "the most diverse slate of judicial nominations under any president in American history."

"The bench, the powerful federal judiciary filled with lifetime appointments should, reflect America," he said. "It's taken too long to get to this point."

Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday echoed Biden's sentiments about judges who, Obama said, "have the power to roll back progress or keep us moving forward; to protect our basic liberties or take them away. It's another reminder of what's at stake in this election, and why it's so important to vote.

The Senate was slated to consider in addition to Martinez the nomination of Dena Coggins, of California, to be United States District Judge for California's Eastern District with a Senate vote scheduled for later in the afternoon. Afterward the Senate will take up the nomination of Melissa Dalton, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of the Air Force.

Martinez, since 2023 a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona, spoke Tuesday the day before at a Senate hearing during her judicial nomination as she addressed senators and thanked her family and those around her ahead of Wednesday's likely vote to confirm her to her new post.

"By way of background, I was raised as a military kid," Martinez said.

Martinez and Lanham were nominated in March by outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who said the two nominees "are both deeply committed to justice and the rule of law," adding that she looked forward "to their bipartisan confirmations."

On Wednesday afternoon, Sinema was on social media to say Martinez "will serve our state honorably" and that Martinez "represents the best" of Arizona, which Sinema said is "brilliant, trailblazing, & determined."

"By actively talking with my colleagues, I secured a strong bipartisan confirmation of Judge Martinez to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of AZ," she posts on X.

The Senate has 48 Democrats, 49 Republicans and three independent members with a 51-vote majority that was needed to confirm.

The American Constitution Society, which is "a diverse network of" lawyers, judges and students, praised Martinez's appointment.

"While this is a significant milestone, we urge the President and the Senate not to stop here," ACS President Russ Feingold, a former Democratic senator from Wisconsin, said in a news release as he said "it is critical that we continue to fill judicial vacancies in the coming months and not waste the opportunity to reclaim our courts from the Right's ideologue judges."

Donald Trump placed 234 judges on the federal bench during his one-term presidency. This will leave Biden with 42 U.S. court of appeals judges confirmed, 155 to the U.S. district court as well as two to the Court of International Trade and the 2022 Supreme Court justice appointment in Ketanji Brown Jackson -- the first Black woman to sit on the country's high court.

That is less in comparison to the three Supreme Court appointments -- Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett -- by former President Donald Trump.

"I think it's pretty substantial when you consider what we've been up against," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin told CBS News

Biden nominated Brown Jackson to be first Black woman on the Supreme Court. She was confirmed that April in a 53-47 Senate confirmation vote and was sworn in weeks later in June.

"There is more work to do," Biden said Wednesday.

"Going forward, I will continue my solemn responsibility of nominating individuals who have excelled in their professional careers, who reflect the communities they serve, and who apply the law impartially and without favoritism," he said.