This week, we're focused on the historically high number of judges appointed to the federal bench by President Donald Trump. As of late November, the Senate had confirmed a total of 48 of Trump's nominations to the federal appeals courts, more than any other president at this stage of his presidency. (Jimmy Carter came close, with 45 at this point in his term.) And those numbers don't include Trump's appointments of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

To explore the impact of these appointments, Law.com litigation reporter Jacqueline Thomsen interviews Russell Wheeler. A visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, Wheeler previously served as the deputy director of the Federal Judicial Center, the federal courts' research and education agency. He describes the "bulldozer efficiency" that the Trump administration has used to get his picks on the bench.

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