Full Breakdown
Trump Pushes to Fill Judicial Vacancies Before Midterms
5/26/2026, 9:46:31 PM
Core Event and Timeline
President Donald Trump is accelerating nominations to fill a handful of federal district-court vacancies before the November midterms. Obama-appointed judges Josephine L. Staton (Central District of California) and Thomas Rice (Eastern District of Washington) will take senior status in September and December; Bush appointee David Gregory Kays (Western District of Missouri) will retire in May 2023. Trump has also nominated two first-term trial judges to appellate courts, creating openings on the North Dakota and Colorado district courts. The administration aims to announce nominees by early July, before the Senate’s August recess.
Vacancy Landscape and Stakes
Legal scholars note the vacancy rate is the lowest since at least Jimmy Carter. Trump has secured 38 judicial confirmations in his second term, including six to circuit courts. Open district seats cluster in red-state districts: North Dakota, Colorado, Texas (three openings), Alaska, Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio and Alabama. Obama-appointed judges in California and Washington will vacate, and no replacement is expected soon. Filling these vacancies would cement a conservative tilt in the judiciary, especially where home-state senators can approve nominees via the blue-slip tradition. A loss of the 53-47 Senate majority in November could halt further appointments.
Official Statements & Responses
Associate professor JP Collins said Republicans will try to fill seats before the election and that the nominee pool will be clearer within two weeks. Senior legal fellow Thomas Jipping noted the unusually low vacancy rate and that the confirmation process runs efficiently but cannot create seats that do not exist. Both said Democrats are unlikely to cooperate on new judicial picks.
Criticism & Opposition
Democratic senators are expected to block most of Trump’s nominees if they regain Senate control in January. California, Washington and Colorado senators declined immediate comment on working with the White House, underscoring partisan resistance.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Republicans are “not going to want to leave anything on the table” before the outcome of the election is known, said JP Collins, an associate professor at George Washington University Law.” — JP Collins, associate professor, George Washington University Law
- “The process can run as efficiently as it wants, and it’s running efficiently now, but you can’t fill vacancies that don’t exist,” — Thomas Jipping, senior legal fellow, Advancing American Freedom
- “In about two more weeks, we’ll probably know the universe of folks who can be replaced before the midterms,” — JP Collins
What’s Next
Trump is expected to announce district-court nominees by early July, after which the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings before the August recess. Confirmation votes must be completed before the November midterms to lock in the judicial impact before any shift in Senate control.
