Jeffrey Kuhlman was treated like a Supreme Court nominee when he was tapped to be a federal judge in February. Even though Kuhlman was being chosen for a trial court in Kansas, President Trump phoned him directly to deliver the news.
The president has done the same for many of his other recent nominees, no matter the prominence of the court vacancy.
Trump and his top aides have hit the reset button as they pick judges in his second term, a process that is more personal—and tightly controlled—than his first.
The president has complained that some of the judges recommended to him last time haven’t served him well. Now, he is taking a closer interest in the process, people familiar with the matter said, and many of his nominees so far have some sort of connection to him and the administration. The White House is also placing a priority on nominees who have clear conservative records on social issues, some of the people said.
“President Trump is selecting highly qualified nominees, with great respect for our Constitution, who will serve on the bench for decades,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.
Trump reshaped the judiciary during his first term by placing 234 judges into lifetime seats on the federal courts, a crowning achievement of his presidency. But the president also had a public falling out with the outside adviser who played an influential role in selecting those nominees, former Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo, after he and the group didn’t embrace Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Despite the rift, the conservative legal organization has a strong imprint on the pool of judicial candidates. Of the 36 nominees who have been confirmed in Trump’s second term, 29 have identified themselves as current or former members of the group.
“There’s obviously not a great relationship between Trump and the Federalist Society like last time, but it has the kind of young, smart, conservative lawyers the administration is looking for,” said Mike Fragoso, who served as chief counsel to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), former Republican leader.
The White House approach provides clues to how Trump might handle a potential Supreme Court vacancy. Much of the current speculation has centered on whether Justice Samuel Alito, a stalwart conservative, would retire this year while Republicans are guaranteed to control the Senate confirmation process. Alito, however, isn’t planning to leave, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
Trump’s appointees have sided with him time and again, but he has been visibly upset when judges he selected have ruled against him, including in decisions that rejected his global tariffs and his deployment of National Guard troops in U.S. cities. The president wants to do everything he can to ensure it doesn’t happen again, the people familiar with the matter said. Giving priority to nominees with Trump connections is a big part of that effort.
Of the nine people Trump has nominated to seats on powerful U.S. appeals courts, at least six have either worked for him or his administration.
Matthew Schwartz, whom Trump just announced for the New York-based Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, worked on Trump’s appeal after his 2024 conviction of falsifying records to cover up hush money paid to a porn star. Justin Smith, whom Trump has nominated to the St. Louis-based Eighth Circuit, represented Trump in his appeals after a jury ordered him to pay $83 million for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll and another jury ordered him to pay $5 million in damages for defamation and sexually abusing her in the mid-1990s.
Emil Bove, who defended Trump in multiple criminal cases and served for a time as a top official in his Justice Department, was named to the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit. Three other appellate appointees also worked in the department during Trump’s first term.
White House Counsel David Warrington and his deputy Stephen Kenny are running point on vetting judicial nominees. Among those offering input are America First Legal, the legal organization founded by top Trump aide Stephen Miller after Trump lost his re-election bid in 2020, and Trump ally Mike Davis, who served as Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley’s (R., Iowa) chief counsel for nominations, according to people familiar with the nominations process.
“The President relies on the White House counsel for advice on judicial nominations,” Jackson, the White House spokeswoman, said. “Other individuals and groups are always free to share their views, but the president is the ultimate decision maker.”
America First Legal President Gene Hamilton said the best candidates presented to Trump are committed to upholding the Constitution and “faithfully interpreting the law as written.”
Trump’s recent nominees reflect his administration’s emphasis on social issues.
Edmund LaCour, confirmed last fall to a federal trial court in Alabama, served as the state’s solicitor general and co-wrote a brief in 2024 urging the Supreme Court to uphold state laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Justin Olson, confirmed for a district court seat in Indiana, represented former athletes challenging eligibility rules allowing transgender participants in college sports.
Write to Lydia Wheeler at [email protected]
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