Advocates denounce the Senate’s confirmation of “committed Trump loyalist” Justin Smith
They also called out his anti-civil rights record and election denial.
The Senate on Monday evening confirmed the nomination of Justin Smith, Trump’s personal lawyer, to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Smith will serve in the Missouri-based seat being vacated by Judge Duane Benton, who announced in October that he would take senior status upon the confirmation of his successor.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats in voting against Smith’s confirmation. She previously opposed confirmation of Emil Bove and Jennifer Mascott, who were both confirmed last year to the Third Circuit.
As I wrote about last week (and several times before), Smith is a Trump loyalist, election denier, and anti-civil rights extremist, and he is deeply entrenched in Leonard Leo’s dark money operation. He is now the second of Trump’s personal lawyers — following Bove — to ascend to a federal appellate judgeship since last year. Second Circuit nominee Matthew Schwartz, another Trump lawyer, is expected to receive a committee vote this Thursday.
Advocates for a fair judiciary condemned the Senate’s confirmation of Smith, calling out his record and longstanding fidelity to the president.
“Justin Smith is a committed Trump loyalist. He is Trump’s personal attorney. He was on the legal team that secured the Supreme Court decision giving Trump vast immunity from prosecution for criminal actions taken while president. He has tried to overturn the jury verdict against Trump in the E. Jean Carroll case. He refuses to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election,” said Marge Baker, executive vice president of People For the American Way. “Every senator who voted to confirm Smith has chosen to give a lifetime appeals court seat to someone who will be a rubber stamp for Trump’s worst authoritarian tendencies.”
Alliance for Justice (AFJ) President Rachel Rossi also sounded the alarm, saying that “Senate Republicans have once again set back the cause of justice by installing another Trump sycophant on the federal courts.”
“In no world can Justin Smith be trusted to faithfully and impartially interpret the law, particularly given he has spent years arguing that Trump is unaccountable to our laws,” Rossi said. “Moreover, Smith is not the first nor the last of Trump’s personal attorneys who he is trying to reward with a lifetime appointment. The Senate Republicans’ unflinching loyalty to Trump — even by those he’s betrayed — must not go unnoticed.”
Beyond his legal representation of and loyalty to Trump, advocates have also been deeply troubled by Smith’s civil and human rights record.
Ethan Rice, senior attorney with the Fair Courts Project at Lambda Legal, noted in particular Smith’s work in opposition to LGBTQ+ equality. “From using offensive terminology when referring to transgender youth to opposing the rights of those youth to play sports with their peers and access medical care, Justin Smith’s position is clear. He doesn’t believe in supporting transgender youth,” Rice said. “Sadly, the Senate just confirmed him to a seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, a Circuit where nearly 650,000 LGBTQ+ people reside. Justin Smith’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda should have no place on the federal courts.”
Notably, Smith was confirmed during Pride Month. In a blog post in April, AFJ and Lambda Legal further outlined Smith’s dangerous, anti-LGBTQ+ record.
In a letter to the Senate, more than 20 organizations also highlighted Smith’s problematic anti-abortion efforts. “Justin Smith was nominated by President Trump to a lifetime appointment on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals because of his extensive record advancing extremist agendas at the expense of our fundamental rights — including reproductive freedom,” the organizations stated in their letter.
“In 2025, Smith represented Arizona’s Republican lawmakers in their attempt to defend remaining state abortion restrictions after voters in Arizona passed a ballot initiative to enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s constitution,” the groups said. They also referenced his defense of numerous abortion bans while working at the attorney general’s office in Missouri.
“Allowing corrupt nominees like Justin Smith to take lifetime judicial roles is dangerous for our democracy,” said Alison Gill, director of nominations and democracy at the National Women’s Law Center. “Throughout his career, Mr. Smith has worked to restrict Americans’ voting rights, block reproductive health care access, and roll back protections for trans people. In his work as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, he insisted that the president should be immune to all consequences for crimes, even including civil offenses like defamation while in office. Clearly, Smith was nominated to the Eighth Circuit because he has shown a willingness to prioritize the president’s interests over the law.”
“Smith revealed what kind of judge he will be when he falsely alleged in court that Ms. Carroll lied about her assault and based her allegations on a television episode. This is not someone who should be in a position of power, especially over litigation that will impact the lives of women and girls,” Gill added.
The League of Conservation Voters also urged senators to oppose Smith’s confirmation. “Smith’s record of fighting against environmental protection and democracy make his nomination a threat to the people’s rights to breathe clean air, to drink clean water, to participate in free and fair elections, and to equal justice under law,” their letter to senators stated. “Smith has worked to advance the interests of polluters at the expense of our communities’ health on numerous occasions.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin spoke out about Smith’s nomination on Monday in remarks on the Senate floor.
“A longtime Republican operative, Smith once wrote in 2007 that ‘abortion is murder, gay marriage is a sin… and on these principles of our party, there must be no equivocation.’ In keeping with Trump’s efforts to undermine America’s elections, Smith also supported efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election,” Leader Schumer said. “We can do better,” Senator Durbin added.
Smith’s confirmation means that the appellate bench will now be staffed with one more Trump appointee — joining Trump’s other appeals court judges who have been attacking fundamental rights and freedoms and doing the president’s bidding from the bench.
“Every judge in a lifetime seat on the federal bench is important, making decisions that have an impact for generations,” said the National Council of Jewish Women in their letter opposing Smith’s confirmation, which highlighted his harmful record.
“Our courts belong to the people, not partisan operatives who are eager to dismantle our civil rights,” said Rossi of AFJ. “We will pay the price for such confirmations for years to come.”
Background
Smith is the first circuit court judge confirmed in 2026 and Trump’s first Eighth Circuit appointee during his second term. Daniel Traynor, nominated to a North Dakota-based seat on the same court, appeared for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
During Trump’s first term, he appointed four judges to the Eighth Circuit. They were all white men, and two of them were rated Not Qualified by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Throughout history, only two judges of color, both Black men, have ever been appointed to this court. That Trump has now nominated six white men to this court, where a woman of color has never served, is worth calling out.
With Smith’s confirmation, only one judicial nominee remains pending on the Senate floor. Kara Westercamp, nominated to the Court of International Trade, awaits full Senate consideration. Six more nominees could join her later this week if the Senate Judiciary Committee advances their nominations.