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The Gavel has broken down the more than 200 lawsuits challenging major Trump administration actions and it found that most of the cases — 72 percent — have been assigned to judges appointed by a Democratic president.

The bulk of those cases are being overseen by those appointed by some of President Trump’s top political foes — former Presidents Obama and Biden.

The judges don’t always rule against Trump, but their flood of injunctions — and plaintiffs’ attempt to bring their cases in favorable courts — has led Trump to lash out by calling many of them Democratic activists and insisting they don’t have the power to tell him how to conduct his administration’s business.

Here’s the full breakdown of judges, by which president appointed them:

• Trump: 33
• Biden: 69
• Obama: 66
• W. Bush: 16
• Clinton: 26
• H.W. Bush: 2
• Reagan: 12

The skew is no accident. Plaintiffs are regularly filing their lawsuits in “friendly” courts along the coasts in places like Boston, San Francisco and Seattle, where suits have a higher chance of being assigned to a Democratic appointee.

Long gone are the days when North Texas’s single-judge divisions were the epicenter of politically charged lawsuits during the Biden administration. Here’s a look at the most common venues:

• District of Columbia: 107
• District of Massachusetts: 23
• District of Maryland: 19
• Western District of Washington: 10
• Northern District of California: 9
• Southern District of New York: 9

The lack of balance also reflects recent presidents’ focus on appointing judges to the federal bench.

After Trump appointed 234 federal judges during his first term, Biden eked out just ahead by appointing 235, making diversity a priority in the process.

But just because a judge was appointed by a Democrat or a Republican doesn’t necessarily dictate how they’ll rule. Trump has had his fair share of losses handed down by his own appointees — and wins from judges appointed by president's of the opposing party.

As Chief Justice John Roberts argued in 2018: “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them."

Welcome to The Gavel, The Hill’s weekly courts newsletter from Ella Lee (elee@thehill.com) and Zach Schonfeld (zschonfeld@thehill.com). Email us tips, or reach out to us on X (@ByEllaLee, @ZachASchonfeld) or Signal (elee.03, zachschonfeld.48).

IN FOCUS

J6ers vexed with Trump officials

Trump’s honeymoon period with the Jan. 6 defendants he granted sweeping clemency is over.

“J6ers” and their advocates are growing increasingly vexed with the Trump administration because they don’t believe it’s delivering on his campaign promise of payback for their prosecutions.

Trump’s path to the White House was paved with promises of retribution against those he said weaponized the justice system against him and his supporters, including those prosecuted and convicted over their roles in storming the Capitol. It’s spanned from exhaustive pardons to prosecuting the prosecutors and investigating the investigators.

While the president made good on his vows for Jan. 6 clemency, pardoning more than 1,500 people and commuting others' sentences on his first day back in office, Jan. 6 defendants and their supporters are growing restless because they want the White House to hold accountable those who sent some of them to prison. Some, they say, should face counts of treason.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel are at the center of the storm.

Suzzanne Monk, founder of the J6........

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