Opinion | Making Up for Lost Time on Judges

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

An opinion essay argues that the Senate should confirm as many federal judges as possible during the current lame-duck session to offset the lower number of judicial appointments in President Trump’s second term. The piece contends that fewer vacancies have emerged because judges are staying on the bench to avoid presidential criticism, a dynamic the author attributes to Trump’s public attacks on the judiciary. The editorial urges lawmakers to advance pending appellate and district court nominees before the congressional term ends, warning that the recent loss of Republican control in the Senate will limit future confirmation opportunities to only those candidates acceptable to Democrats.

Background

• The Senate has confirmed 56 judicial nominees since January 2025, a lower figure than the 84 confirmed during the same period of Trump’s first term or Biden’s presidency.
• The Brookings Institution reports that 42 judges left active status through July of the current term, compared to 97 departures during the same timeframe in 2018.
• The White House withdrew the nomination of Lee Rudofsky for the Eighth Circuit following objections from Senator John Boozman, who cited the need for home-state senator feedback.
• Three appellate nominees remain pending in the Senate, including candidates for the Tenth and Fifth Circuits, while four district judges have recently passed the Judiciary Committee.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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