Trump's judicial push stalls as vacancies run dry, confirming only 26 judges in 2025

President Trump ended 2025 with just 26 lifetime judicial confirmations — far below the 40 Biden secured in his first year — and faces an even tougher path in 2026. The Senate confirmed 33 of Trump's 42 nominees by early February 2026, but with only 37 open district court seats and federal judges refusing to announce early retirements, the administration's ability to reshape the federal bench has hit a structural wall. At the same time, Trump broke openly with the Federalist Society and his first-term judicial gatekeeper Leonard Leo, shifting selection power to the Article III Project, run by close ally Mike Davis, which favors nominees who are MAGA loyalists over traditional conservative legal scholars. The confirmation of judges who will interpret federal law for decades — on everything from immigration and abortion to voting rights and executive power — is one of the most durable ways any president reshapes American life.