Abstract A central concern for any U.S. presidential administration is its relationship with the federal judiciary. For an administration, this relationship is potentially legacy making or breaking in two ways. First, what is the imprint that the administration leaves on the judiciary? Will a president have the opportunities and institutional capacity to change the political balance of the federal judiciary? Second, how will the judicial branch respond when the administration’s policy plans are, as many inevitably will be, challenged in the court system? Will the administration’s policy preferences be preserved and its agenda advanced, or will court decisions stymie important initiatives and restrict that agenda? This paper examines these questions with regard to the Obama administration’s record. The Obama era saw new levels of diversity in terms of judicial nominees and the courts did sometimes uphold key aspects of the Obama administration’s program to the chagrin of conservative opponents. Yet, with the benefit of two years hindsight, the evidence suggests that the Obama administration’s legacy with regard to both the central questions addressed in the paper was a diminished one. The administration’s capacity to reorient the federal bench was thwarted by the legislative branch, notably obstruction in Senate, with the consequences of that frustration highlighted by the rapid actions taken by the Trump administration and Senate Republicans in 2017–18. Furthermore, on balance, the decisions made by the federal judiciary on matters of significant concern to the Obama White House weakened rather than strengthened the administration’s legacy.

中文翻译：

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遗留的遗产减少：奥巴马总统与法院

摘要任何美国总统府的主要关注点是与联邦司法机构的关系。对于一个主管部门来说，这种关系可能是遗产的继承或破坏，有两种方式。首先，政府对司法部门的印象是什么？总统是否有机会和机构能力改变联邦司法机构的政治平衡？第二，当行政当局的政策计划受到法院系统的挑战时，司法部门将如何应对？政府会保留其政策偏好并推进其议程吗，还是法院判决会阻碍重要举措并限制该议程？本文针对奥巴马政府的记录研究了这些问题。奥巴马时代见证了司法提名人多元化的新水平，而法院有时确实坚持了奥巴马政府计划的关键方面，以激怒保守派反对者。然而，经过两年的事后观察，有证据表明，奥巴马政府在本文所涉及的两个核心问题方面的遗产已减少。立法部门，尤其是参议院的阻挠，挫败了美国政府调整联邦职位的能力，特朗普政府和参议院共和党在2017-18年采取的迅速行动突显了这种挫败的后果。此外，总的来说，联邦司法机构对奥巴马白宫非常关注的事项做出的决定削弱了而不是增强了政府的遗产。