Donald Trump s presidency is ending in a few weeks. But the more than 230 people he put into lifetime federal judgeships will be shaping the nations law for decades.

Trump will leave office having confirmed at least three Supreme Court justices, 54 appeals court judges, 174 district court judges and three judges for the U.S. Court of International Trade. The Senate could still confirm more of his court picks before hes gone. All of these judges are Article III judges, meaning they have their jobs for life.

How does his record compare to other recent presidents?

In terms of sheer numbers, Trump confirmed more lifetime federal judges than presidents Barack Obama (175), George W. Bush (206) and Bill Clinton (204) did in their first terms.

He couldnt have done it without Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Not only did the GOP leader make it his top priority to confirm Trumps court picks he was even pushing them through as emergency COVID-19 relief legislation was stalling out but he actively delayed or blocked Obamas judicial nominees for years, in an effort to keep court seats vacant for a future Republican president to fill. Trump did just that.

What McConnell has wanted is courts that will be here for decades after voters have rejected Republicans, if thats what happens. Courts that would themselves be extremely activist in blowing up the welfare state and the ability of the federal government to do much of anything, said Norm Ornstein, a resident scholar at American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. How successful theyll be, Im not sure. But for the most part, this Supreme Court has given Trump whatever he wanted with regard to use of executive power.

Trump is also leaving office having filled almost every vacancy on an appeals court. Its a remarkable feat; no other president has confirmed as many appeals court judges in a single term. Put another way: Nearly one in every three appeals court judges is now a Trump pick.

What weve seen is not just Trump appointing a lot of judges, which everybody talks about, but his bulldozer-like occupation with filling courts of appeals, said Russell Wheeler, a visiting fellow in the Brookings Institutions Governance Studies Program and president of the nonpartisan think tank The Governance Institute. Theyre filling vacancies on district courts now because they dont have any appeals court seats left to fill.

This was the plan all along. Trumps White House spent years focused on confirming judges to the nations 13 appeals courts. These courts, which are just one step below the Supreme Court, dont get the kind of flashy news coverage the highest court gets. But they are incredibly powerful, and they are where most federal law is settled on major issues like capital punishment, abortion, same-sex marriage and immigration.

For some perspective, appeals courts resolve roughly 50,000 cases a year. The Supreme Court resolves about 100.