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How Trump Is Making the Federal Judiciary Younger, Whiter, and More Republican - Balls and Strikes
Balls and StrikesWith the Senate adjourned until 2026, the book is closed on President Donald Trump’s first-year judicial appointments. How much damage did he do this time around? In my view, a lot—his 26 appointees this year were younger, whiter, and more openly partisan than those he appointed in his first term.
But if you’re looking for silver linings, it probably could have been worse. In 2017, the first year of Trump’s first term in office, he appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and 12 judges to the courts of appeals, including the likes of James Ho and future Supreme Court justice Amy Coney Barrett. This year, although Trump appointed more judges overall than he did in 2017, the vast majority were for district court seats—important judgeships, to be sure, but not as powerful as the appeals court seats Trump prioritized in 2017.
Right now, Trump has fewer than 50 vacancies left to fill, and only one is an appeals court vacancy. Given how slowly new vacancies have arisen since his re-election, Trump may not get many more than that before the 2026 midterm elections, when control of the Senate—and the power to confirm judges—will be up for grabs.
Vacancies
In the last few weeks, just three district court judges have announced future retirement plans: Western District of Missouri Judge Douglas Harpool, Western District of Arkansas Judge Susan Hickey, and Eastern District of Tennessee Judge Thomas Varlan. Harpool and Hickey were both appointed by President Barack Obama, and Varlan was appointed by President George W. Bush. All sit in states with two Republican senators, which will make appointing their replacements easy.
In total, just 30 judges—three appeals court judges and 27 district court judges, 24 Republican appointees and six Democratic appointees—have created vacancies in the nearly 14 months since Trump won re-election.
But if you’re looking for silver linings, it probably could have been worse. In 2017, the first year of Trump’s first term in office, he appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and 12 judges to the courts of appeals, including the likes of James Ho and future Supreme Court justice Amy Coney Barrett. This year, although Trump appointed more judges overall than he did in 2017, the vast majority were for district court seats—important judgeships, to be sure, but not as powerful as the appeals court seats Trump prioritized in 2017.
Right now, Trump has fewer than 50 vacancies left to fill, and only one is an appeals court vacancy. Given how slowly new vacancies have arisen since his re-election, Trump may not get many more than that before the 2026 midterm elections, when control of the Senate—and the power to confirm judges—will be up for grabs.
Vacancies
In the last few weeks, just three district court judges have announced future retirement plans: Western District of Missouri Judge Douglas Harpool, Western District of Arkansas Judge Susan Hickey, and Eastern District of Tennessee Judge Thomas Varlan. Harpool and Hickey were both appointed by President Barack Obama, and Varlan was appointed by President George W. Bush. All sit in states with two Republican senators, which will make appointing their replacements easy.
In total, just 30 judges—three appeals court judges and 27 district court judges, 24 Republican appointees and six Democratic appointees—have created vacancies in the nearly 14 months since Trump won re-election.
Trump's second first year of judicial nominations: could have been worse, still pretty bad
— Balls & Strikes (@ballsandstrikes.org) 2026-01-05T21:38:00.900Z