Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans celebrated a milestone Thursday when they confirmed their 100th judge appointed by Trump, leaving a significant imprint on the judicial branch that could last for decades after Trump leaves office.

The mark is a victory for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who made confirming judges a top priority of this Congress, and Don McGahn, the former White House counsel who helped select the nominees and worked with McConnell to shepherd them to confirmation.

McGahn, who is popular with Senate Republicans, has come under withering criticism from Trump in the wake of Robert Mueller's report because McGahn told the special counsel that Trump ordered him to fire Mueller, something that could have been obstructing justice had McGahn not refused to carry it out.

But Trump's fuming is not likely to last as long as the tenure of 40-year-old Judge Rodolfo Armando Ruiz II, of the Southern District of Florida, who was judicial confirmation number 100.

The heavy focus on confirming judges -- and other presidential appointments -- came when Democrats took control of the House and GOP senate leaders assessed that they were unlikely to broker deals with Democrats on any significant legislation ahead of the 2020 elections. Instead, they turned to nominations, to build accomplishments they could tout to voters.

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