Trump hasn’t appointed any judges in his second term yet—here’s when past presidents have made their first nominations

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to the Tuesday, April 1, Brew. 

By: Lara Bonatesta

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Trump hasn’t appointed any judges in his second term yet—here’s when past presidents have made their first nominations
  2. It’s Election Day in Wisconsin—here’s what’s on the ballot
  3. Eleven multistate lawsuits have been filed against the Trump Administration

Trump has yet to appoint any judges in his second term. Here’s when past presidents have made their first nominations

According to the Federal Judicial Center, as of March 31, President Donald Trump (R) has yet to appoint any Article III federal judges in his second term in office.

On March 18, Politico’s Hailey Fuchs and Josh Gerstein reported, “[a]n announcement of Trump’s first round of judicial nominations since returning to office is expected within the next few weeks.”

During his first term, Trump made 245 judicial appointments. Of those, 234 were Article III judges. Trump withdrew eight nominees, and 143 received no vote from the Senate. 

Fuchs and Gerstein wrote: “Trump’s generational mark on the federal judiciary — appointing more than 200 judges and bolstering the conservative majority on the Supreme Court with three new justices — has been widely viewed as one of the most significant achievements of his first term. … It remains to be seen what kind of judges the new Trump administration will select and if they will be similar to those from his last time in the White House.”

As we mentioned in our Feb. 12 edition of The Daily Brew, the dates when presidents have made their first judicial appointments have varied, ranging from Feb. 1 to July 1 of a president’s first year in office since 1981.

Trump announced his nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court on Jan. 31, 2017, and, according to the Federal Judicial Center, the Senate received the nomination on Feb. 1, 2017. 

There are currently 45 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.2%.  According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, there are 12 upcoming vacancies in the federal judiciary, where judges have announced their intention to leave active judicial status.

Three of 179 U.S. Appeals Court positions and 40 of 677 U.S. District Court positions are vacant. None of the nine U.S. Court of International Trade positions are vacant.

When Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, he inherited 40 lifetime federal judicial vacancies. Former President Joe Biden (D) inherited 46 such vacancies when he took office in 2021. Trump inherited 108 vacancies when he was inaugurated in 2017.

Ballotpedia publishes a monthly federal vacancy count report detailing vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts. Click here to read the most recent report.

It’s Election Day in Wisconsin. Here’s what’s on the ballot

It’s Election Day in Wisconsin. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Click here to see our page on voting in Wisconsin. If you’re a Wisconsin voter, click here to use our Sample Ballot Lookup Tool before you head to the polls.


Here’s what’s on the ballot statewide:

Supreme Court: 

Incumbent Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel are running for a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

  • Although Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections are officially nonpartisan, candidates often take stances on specific issues and receive backing from the state’s major political parties during their campaigns. Wisconsin’s Democratic Party has endorsed Crawford. Schimel is the state’s former Republican attorney general. 
  • The court currently has a 4-3 liberal majority. Incumbent Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, one of the court’s liberal members, is retiring.
  • In our February episode of On the Ballot, Wisconsin Public Radio’s state capitol reporter Anya van Wagtendonk said, “We have a Democratic governor and a Republican-held Legislature, and it’s been that way for quite a while, and so increasingly important issues are just not getting decided by the Legislature, and then they end up getting kicked to the court. … So they’re increasingly just an important arm of political decision-making.” 
  • In our March 27 episode, The Center Square’s Dan McCaleb said that the race has “big implications for Wisconsin voters and Wisconsin taxpayers, but there’s potential for some national implications too.” McCaleb listed the state’s congressional maps, abortion, voter ID, and former Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) Act 10, which limited the collective bargaining rights of public employees in the state among the issues that could appear before the court. To see our coverage of noteworthy recent and upcoming cases, click here.
  • According to WisPolitics, the candidates and satellite groups have spent more than $100 million on the race as of March 28. This surpasses the 2023 election – when candidates and satellite groups spent more than $56 million – as the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Click here to find updates on satellite spending in this race. 
  • According to reports filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission on March 24, Crawford has raised $21.8 million and spent $21.4 million, and Schimel has raised $10 million and spent $9.5 million. Here’s how that compares to candidate spending in previous years:

To learn more, check out our ongoing coverage of the race here, watch our video breaking down the race, or listen to our March 27 and Feb. 12 episodes of On The Ballot.

Superintendent of Public Instruction: 

Incumbent Jill Underly and Brittany Kinser are running in the nonpartisan general election for Wisconsin’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. Adrianne Melby is also running as a write-in candidate.

Click here to see our full ongoing coverage, or click here to see our most recent Daily Brew coverage of the race.

Question 1, Require Voter Photo ID Amendment:

  • Wisconsin voters will decide on a constitutional amendment to require photo identification to cast a ballot. It would authorize the Legislature to establish acceptable forms of photo ID and exceptions to the requirement.
  • While Wisconsin state law has required voters to show photo ID since 2011, this measure would add the requirement to the state’s constitution. According to Votebeat Wisconsin, the measure wouldn’t change the state’s current law and would allow for future modifications.
  • A court could strike down the current statutory voter ID law if it’s found to violate the Wisconsin Constitution. Adding the requirement to the state constitution would likely prevent state courts from invalidating the law based on other provisions in the state constitution.

Click here to learn more about Question 1 or here to see our relevant Daily Brew coverage.


Wisconsin is one of 26 states where Ballotpedia has expanded our local election coverage to include elections in all 72 counties. Click here to see our local election coverage for Wisconsin and here to see our overview of Wisconsin’s 2025 elections.

Eleven multistate lawsuits have been filed against the Trump Administration

According to the State Litigation and AG Activity Database, 11 multistate lawsuits have been filed against the Trump Administration as of March 23. Multistate lawsuits are legal actions involving two or more state attorneys general.

The largest coalition of states can be found in the case New York v. Trump, in which 23 Democratic state attorneys general are challenging the Trump administration’s federal grant freeze. As of March 23, federal courts had granted a preliminary injunction in the case, which temporarily pauses implementation of the federal grant freeze.

Another notable case is Washington v. Trump, in which four state attorneys general challenged Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order titled, “Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship.” The order said it would end birthright citizenship for individuals whose parents were in the U.S. without legal permission or whose parents were in the U.S. with temporary permission. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against it on Feb. 6.

Looking at multistate lawsuits filed against the federal government from 1981 to present, Trump’s first term had the highest number at 160.

Including lawsuits from Trump’s first and second terms, the Trump Administration has had 171 multistate lawsuits filed against it.Click here to learn more about multistate lawsuits against the federal government during the Trump administration.