Trump Set to Move Courts Further Right, Deepening Judicial Clout
Dozens of vacancies could open in the appeals courts that decide on pressing and far-reaching issues, from financial regulations to abortion.
Donald Trump at his final 2024 campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Nov. 5.
Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump rapidly filled a swath of vacancies in the US judiciary in his first term, dramatically reshaping the federal bench with right-leaning judges. Now he has a chance to cement his influence, particularly over the appeals courts that rule on some of the most important and divisive issues in American society.
There are currently only two vacancies on those courts, known as circuits. But over the coming presidential term, out of 177 active circuit judges, 34 Republican-appointed and 29 Democratic-appointed appellate judges could retire, according to data gathered by Russell Wheeler, a nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program.