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 can declare laws passed by Congress or executive acts by the President of the United States unconstitutional, thus legally voiding them. However, all federal judges are nominated by the president and approved by the Senate. Additionally, Congress can remove a federal judge from office by impeachment.