Federal judges with lifetime appointments confirmed by the Senate in Donald Trump’s second term, by court, compared with his first term and with Joe Biden.
Last verified . Counts and vacancies checked against uscourts.gov twice a day.
As of October 21, 2026, the Senate has confirmed 56 Article III judges nominated by Trump in his second term: 10 appeals judges, 45 district judges, 1 Court of International Trade judge and no Supreme Court justices. At the same point in his first term he had 84; Biden had 84.
Article III confirmations about 21 months into each term, followed by full-term totals.
| President | Supreme Court | Appeals | District | Intl. Trade | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trump, second term October 21, 2026 | 0 | 10 | 45 | 1 | 56 |
Trump, first term Oct. 22, 2018 | 2 | 29 | 53 | 0 | 84 |
Biden Oct. 22, 2022 | 1 | 25 | 58 | 0 | 84 |
Trump, first term (2017–2021) Full term | 3 | 54 | 174 | 3 | 234 |
Biden (2021–2025) Full term | 1 | 45 | 187 | 2 | 235 |
Counts are appointments, so a judge elevated from a district court to an appeals court counts once for each court. Pew Research Center, which counts individual judges and leaves out the Court of International Trade, puts the second-term figure at 55 as of October 15, 2026.
The main limit is vacancies. Trump’s first term and Biden’s term together filled more than 460 Article III seats, and few judges retired after the 2024 election. Pew, citing Brookings data, found that only 3 appeals judges left the bench or announced departures between the 2024 election and the end of Trump’s first year back, compared with 30 over the same stretch for Biden. As of October 21, 2026, there were 0 vacancies on the federal appeals courts.
The Senate confirmed 26 Trump judges in 2025 (6 appeals, 20 district). The most recent confirmation in our data is Angela Colmenero to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, on September 23, 2026.
Senate procedure has not changed for judges. A precedent adopted on a 53–45 vote on September 11, 2025, allows sub-Cabinet executive nominees to be confirmed in groups, but it excludes judicial nominations, so judges are still confirmed one at a time. Trump has also urged Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to drop the “blue slip” custom that lets home-state senators block district court nominees; as of early 2026, Grassley had kept it. Appeals court nominees have not been subject to blue slips since 2017.
Every U.S. court of appeals judge confirmed in the second term, with the Senate vote.
| Judge | Court | Confirmed | Vote | Replaced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitney D. Hermandorfer | 6th Circuit | 46–42 | Jane Branstetter Stranch | |
| Emil Bove III | 3rd Circuit | 50–49 | Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. | |
| Jennifer L. Mascott | 3rd Circuit | 50–47 | Kent A. Jordan | |
| Rebecca L. Taibleson | 7th Circuit | 52–46 | Diane S. Sykes | |
| Joshua D. Dunlap | 1st Circuit | 52–46 | William J. Kayatta Jr. | |
| Eric C. Tung | 9th Circuit | 52–45 | Sandra Segal Ikuta | |
| Justin D. Smith | 8th Circuit | 48–43 | Duane Benton | |
| Matthew A. Schwartz | 2nd Circuit | 50–45 | Debra Ann Livingston | |
| Benjamin M. Flowers | 6th Circuit | 49–46 | Jeffrey Sutton | |
| Daniel M. Traynor | 8th Circuit | 48–47 | Ralph R. Erickson |
Nominee status as of October 22, 2026.
Article III vacancies reported by the U.S. Courts as of October 21, 2026.
As of October 21, 2026, the Senate has confirmed 56 of Trump’s Article III judicial nominees in his second term: 0 to the Supreme Court, 10 to the U.S. courts of appeals, 45 to district courts and 1 to the Court of International Trade. Across both terms he has appointed 290 Article III judges.
At the same point in his first term (Oct. 22, 2018), Trump had 84 Article III judges confirmed, including 2 Supreme Court justices and 29 appeals judges. Biden had 84 by Oct. 22, 2022, including 25 appeals judges. Pew Research Center reported in October 2026 that the second-term total is among the lowest at this point of any presidential term since Jimmy Carter.
Mainly because there have been fewer vacancies. Trump’s first term and Biden’s term filled most open seats, and few judges retired after the 2024 election. Pew, citing Brookings data, found that only 3 appeals judges left or announced departures between the 2024 election and the end of Trump’s first year back, compared with 30 over the same period for Biden.
No. There has been no Supreme Court vacancy since January 2025. In his first term Trump appointed three justices: Neil Gorsuch (2017), Brett Kavanaugh (2018) and Amy Coney Barrett (2020).
According to the U.S. Courts, there were 28 current Article III vacancies as of October 21, 2026, none of them on a court of appeals, plus 15 announced future vacancies. 16 nominees were pending in the Senate.
26: 6 appeals judges and 20 district judges. In 2017, the first year of his first term, 19 Article III judges were confirmed, including Justice Gorsuch; in 2021, Biden’s first year, 40 were confirmed.
Vote tallies link to Senate roll-call records. Territorial judges (Article IV) and Court of Federal Claims judges are not counted. Spotted an error? Contact us.
TrumpInsight Editorial Team
News & Research Desk
Judicial counts are compiled from U.S. Courts confirmation listings, Senate roll-call votes and the Federal Judicial Center, and re-checked after each confirmation.
Major court cases over administration policies
Who serves in the Cabinet and who has left
Every law and veto of the second term
Major events month by month since January 2025
Every executive order of the second term
The Senate races that decide future confirmations