Trump Judicial Appointments Slow as Vacancies Scarce for 2026

President Donald Trump ends his first year back in the White House with more appointments overall to the federal bench but fewer appeals court confirmations compared to the same point in 2017.

Doing as well in 2026 may prove difficult for Trump. He has just 49 judicial vacancies, of which 27 current and six future openings are in states with two Republican senators, according to US Courts data as of Dec. 19.

More opportunities will require additional retirements and so far in Trump’s second term, federal judges have been slow to announce retirement plans.

A tough Senate schedule amid the 2026 election cycle will likely complicate confirmation efforts. The results could narrow or reverse Senate Republicans’ 53-49 majority.

Circuit Appointments

The Senate confirmed 26 of Trump’s judicial nominees this year, with eight remaining in the pipeline. That’s more than the 17 the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed in 2017.

But Trump filled six circuit vacancies this year, compared to 12 in 2017.

In 2017, the administration and Senate Republicans spent the first quarter working to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court vacancy created by Antonin Scalia’s death, with the first group of lower court nominations rolling in by May. Trump similarly announced his first nominee in May of this year.

The district court vacancies the White House focused on this year were all in states with two Republican senators. The Senate confirmed 20 judges to those seats. Trump has continued filling the bench with young conservatives with track records litigating issues critical to the conservative legal movement.

This year’s picks skewed even younger than the first term nominees. The average and median age of Trump’s lower court nominees last time was 48, according to George Washington law professor John P. Collins. Roughly half of the 33 nominees who had confirmation hearings this year were 44 or younger.

Slow Pipeline

Trump has had fewer opportunities so far in his second term, in part because of the slow pace of retirements among appointees of Republicans presidents.

Only three of the almost two dozen Republican-appointed appeals judges eligible for partial retirement did so this year, the third doing so in October.

Trump started the year with at least 39 judgeships and six future seats to fill, according to US courts data. By Dec. 12, that was 40 current vacancies and nine future vacancies (with 26 confirmations in between).

Nine vacancies are in states with two Democratic senators. It’s unclear whether Trump will name any nominees to those openings as Democrats have largely dismissed Trump’s judicial picks this term as unqualified. Meanwhile, 15 Democratic caucus members have voted to confirm at least one of Trump’s judge picks.

Retired judges told Bloomberg Law that Trump’s rhetoric about judges—including calling those who rule against him “monsters”—hasn’t gone over well with those on the bench. Some conservative lawyers also expressed concerns over Trump’s appointment of his former personal lawyer turned top Justice Department official, Emil Bove, to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit . Bove faced whistleblower allegations of misconduct at DOJ, which he denies.

But most nominees have had “the same kind of backgrounds that have long been the hallmark of conservative judicial nominees,” similar to the first term picks, said Lee Holmes, former chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Judiciary Committee under former Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Judges considering senior status “should feel very good about the nominees Trump has put forth,” he said.

No Withdrawals

The administration saw none of its nominees withdraw this year, compared to the three in 2017 due to difficulty answering questions about trial procedure at their confirmation hearing and public remarks referring to transgender children as part of “Satan’s plan.”

Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor confirmed this year to an appeals court seat in Wisconsin, faced pushback from conservatives who said she hadn’t sufficiently proven her commitment to the conservative legal movement. Bove’s nomination proved the most controversial.

But Senate Republicans had limited interest in those attacks, and at times called them “fake outrage.” It’s a clear sign of stronger unity between Trump and Republicans than in the first term, said Mike Fragoso, a partner at Torridon Law and former chief counsel for former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Disputes between individual lawmakers and the White House created complications for the administration last time.

Senate Republicans’ majority has also provided cushion for Trump defection this year.

Holmes said that “Trump is much stronger among Senate Republicans in 2025 than he was in 2017" but that the most important factor in the White House’s success has been their vetting and preparation of nominees who’ve been “having fantastic hearings.”

The fate of former Florida Deputy Attorney General John Guard’s nomination to a judgeship there is unclear. The White House paused his consideration due his involvement in a Gov. Ron DeSantis-linked charity under criminal investigation, according to Axios. The White House didn’t return a request for comment on whether they planned to withdraw or resubmit the nomination in the new year.

Midterm Worries

Conservative lawyers told Bloomberg Law that they’re pleased with the pace of confirmations but also urge the White House to speed up naming nominees. Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said at a December hearing that he’d “like to process even more judicial nominations, but I’m waiting on the President to get those nominations up here.”

Conservatives said they hope more senior status-eligible conservative judges step down who may “sincerely want to be replaced by people who share their jurisprudence, who assume, for whatever reason, that the landscape will be the same in 2027 and 2028 as it is today, and therefore there’s no reason to hurry,” Fragoso said.

There’s just one appeals seat to fill, on the Eighth Circuit, in 2026 so far and it’s gearing up to be a crowded field of contenders.