WASHINGTON ― Easily the most lasting legacy of President Donald Trump’s first term is how he reshaped the nation’s federal courts.
He confirmed 234 lifetime federal judges ― more than any of his recent predecessors, though one shy of President Joe Biden’s 235 ― and he benefited from a well-oiled machine put in place for him by conservatives. Leonard Leo, a powerful right-wing legal activist tied to The Federalist Society, fed Trump dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion picks. When Trump sent them to the Senate, then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made their confirmations a top priority and strong-armed them through, Senate rules be damned.
But in his second term, with his first batch of judicial nominees heading into their Senate hearing on Wednesday, Trump is approaching this process more vengeful, more unhinged and with fewer opportunities to drastically remake the courts. He’s facing a changed political landscape on everything from alliances made and broken to different Senate interests, all of which combine to set the stage for a new strategy for confirming judges.
For one thing, Trump isn’t inheriting that same well-oiled machine from before. McConnell isn’t in charge of the Senate now; it’s Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who is far less animated by confirming judges (and has his hands full with Trump’s other second-term chaos).
