Federalist Society Deserves Gratitude from Trump for Judicial Appointments

President Donald Trump's tenure was marked by a significant reshaping of the American judiciary. During his term, Trump appointed 54 circuit judges, including 19 to seats previously held by Democratic appointees.

One of the most contentious aspects of Trump's judicial appointments was the high number of nationwide injunctions his administration received in its first four months. This surpassed the total number received by all previous administracies combined since John F. Kennedy. Notably, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's Supreme Court nominees, played a significant role in the jurisprudential earthquakes that followed.

Trump's criticism of the federal bench was fueled by the nationwide injunctions against his executive orders. Since President George H.W. Bush, there has been no substantial increase in the number of federal judges. As of Inauguration Day, only five circuit judges had taken or announced they would take senior status, along with 13 Democratic-appointed and 25 Republican-appointed judges eligible to take senior status.

The Federalist Society's judges, appointed by Trump, have been instrumental in overturning Roe v. Wade, eliminating racial preferences in college admissions, restoring Second Amendment rights, defending religious liberty, ending judicial deference to bureaucrats, blocking executive student loan forgiveness, and recognizing presidential immunity.

Not all of Trump's judicial appointments were met with unanimous approval. A judge who blocked Trump's tariffs, though appointed by a Democratic president, was a lifelong Democrat and a senior adviser to Trump's first-term trade representative. Trump accused Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society of misleading him on judicial appointments after a U.S. Court of International Trade blocked his tariffs.

Conservatives and populists have criticized Trump's Supreme Court nominees for various apostasies, but they would still accept judges like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The composition of the judiciary is better from the perspective of Trump's electoral coalition than it was a decade ago.

Justice Thomas and Justice Alito, both appointed by President Trump, are 77 and 75 years old, respectively, but are at the height of their influence and neither seems ready to retire. Another dozen or so Democratic appointees will become eligible before the next election, but they're unlikely to retire.

The best prospect for Trump to flip a circuit court is the historically liberal Ninth Circuit. The JUDGES Act, which would have added 66 new district judgeships, was vetoed by President Biden. Court filings have increased 30 percent, and backlogs, including on the criminal docket, have also risen since then.

An important ruling on nonprofit-donor disclosures was made by a district judge appointed by Lyndon Johnson. President Biden appointed one more judge in total than Trump, but he didn't have the same impact because only 45 were circuit judges.

The director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute and the author of the book "Lawless: The Miseducation of America's Elites" is Ilya Shapiro. The composition of the judiciary, shaped by Trump's appointments, will continue to influence American law and politics long after Trump has departed. A president's most lasting impact is on the judiciary, as judicial appointments are for life.