Two circuit court judges just handed Trump more vacancies to fill with loyalists

After yesterday’s tariff ruling, fealty to Trump and his agenda will continue to be the most important qualification.

After the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling on Friday, the president of the United States responded both in person and on Truth Social — calling the decision “deeply disappointing,” “ridiculous,” “nonsensical,” “poorly written,” and “extraordinarily anti-American.” He said he was ashamed of the justices who ruled against him and called the Court’s Democratic-appointed jurists a “disgrace to our nation.” He referred to them as “FOOLS” and “LAPDOGS” while declaring that his “new hero is United States Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and, of course, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that they want to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump’s crashout reinforced the extent to which he values loyalty — to him and to his agenda — above all else. And it came just two days after he nominated one of his personal lawyers, Justin Smith, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. If anyone is going to deliver for Trump, a loyalist like Smith surely will. He retweeted Trump’s August 2023 mugshot and posted last January that “President Trump’s inaugural address joins the greats by Lincoln, JFK, and Reagan. Laser-focused on solutions for the American people. Inspirational and patriotic. ‘America’s Golden Age begins now!’”

That was Trump’s last remaining circuit court vacancy to fill. Until it wasn’t.

On Friday afternoon, Law Dork broke the news that Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the Sixth Circuit is taking senior status, effective October 1. In his letter to Trump, Judge Sutton wrote that “It has been an honor to serve the Sixth Circuit as an active judge, and it will be an honor to do the same as a senior judge.” But he wasn’t alone: According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts’ website, Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit also announced she is taking senior status, effective July 1.

The timing was interesting — not only because they announced their semi-retirements on the same day (it’s been almost four months since a circuit court judge made such an announcement), but also because they did so as their fellow federal jurists were being rebuked by Trump simply for ruling against him. Trump will now have two more circuit court seats to fill with individuals he believes will never wrong him or reject his agenda. And after the Senate allowed him to appoint Emil Bove to the Third Circuit last year, he knows he can swing for the fences and attempt to appoint the most partisan and loyal individuals possible. We are already seeing that with Justin Smith’s nomination.

If Trump successfully replaces Judge Sutton, half of the Sixth Circuit’s active judges — eight of 16 — will be appointed by Trump. On the Second Circuit, he now has an opportunity to appoint his sixth judge on a court with 13 active judges.

That is a terrifying prospect for the nation’s courts and our democracy. Trump has already appointed 60 circuit court judges who bring very little professional or demographic diversity to the bench. More than 75 percent are men, 85 percent are white, and 65 percent are white men. Just two are women of color, and zero are Black. Additionally, Trump has been appointing appellate court judges who have records of hostility to civil and human rights. And they now have lifetime appointments on powerful appeals courts, where they “are taking a sledgehammer to our rights and freedoms,” as People For the American Way chronicles here.

More than three dozen judicial nominees during Trump’s second term (all of them who have appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee) have already refused to say that Trump lost the 2020 election or directly answer questions related to January 6, 2021. You can be sure — moving forward — that his nominees will continue to dodge their way to lifetime seats on the federal bench. After Trump’s tantrum yesterday, his nominees very clearly understand that if they don’t go along with Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories, their nominations would be withdrawn that day.

We’ll see what happens in the weeks and months ahead as Trump announces nominees — and as other federal judges consider whether they, too, want this president to name their replacement.