A snooty waiter might condescend to serve you dinner at a fancy restaurant, meaning that he'd consider himself far too important to carry out the mundane task of delivering your hamburger and fries. You might have noticed that condescend contains the word descend, meaning to move down from a higher place. You can think of condescend as lowering yourself to do a task that you feel is far beneath you. Kings and queens would never condescend to do their own laundry at the palace, for example. If they even knew how to do the laundry, you can be sure they'd do it in a condescending, or superior, way to let everyone know that housework is no task for a monarch.
Appointment of federal judges is a two-step process involving both the Executive and Legislative Branches of government. The President (Executive Branch) nominates someone for a vacancy on the bench, and the Senate (Legislative Branch) approves or rejects the nomination to complete the appointment. The executive branch (specifically the President) appoints federal judges subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The Judicial Branch of the government is made up of judges and courts. Federal judges are not elected by the people. They are appointed by the president and then confirmed by the Senate. There is a hierarchy of federal courts in the United States. At lowest level are 94 U.S. District Courts which cover different regions of the country and handle most federal cases. Above the District Courts are the 13 Courts of Appeals. At the top of the Judicial Branch is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has the final say.