“As Senate Judiciary Chairman, I confirmed a record number of conservative judges and stood strong defending Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh.” – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) (3/17/26)
THIS WEEK, THE SENATE CONFIRMED THREE ARTICLE III FEDERAL JUDGES – BRINGING THE TOTAL NUMBER TO 48 JUDGES CONFIRMED IN PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SECOND TERM, WELL AHEAD OF HIS FIRST-TERM PACE
- This week, the Senate confirmed Arthur Jones to be U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Texas, Matthew Schwartz to be U.S. circuit judge for the Second Circuit, and Jeffrey Kuntz to be U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Florida. (PN930-3: Roll Call Vote #193 – 7/13/26; PN938-2: Roll Call Vote #194 – 7/14/26; PN930-4: PN930-4: Roll Call Vote #197 – 7/15/26)
- With these confirmations, the 119th Senate has now confirmed 48 of President Trump’s second-term Article III judicial nominations. (Senate Majority Leader: President Trump’s Senate-Confirmed Civilian Nominations – accessed 7/16/26)
- This far outpaces the confirmation rate of the first Trump administration: At this point in 2018, the Senate had only confirmed 41 Article III judges to the bench. (U.S. Congress: President Trump Judicial Nominations (2017-2018) – accessed 7/16/26)
- Democrats’ obstruction continues: President Trump is still the only president on record not to have a single civilian nomination, including judges, confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent in his second term. (U.S. Congress: 119th Congress Nominations – accessed 7/16/26; The Daily Caller: EXCLUSIVE: Thune Says Trump Nominees Are Being Confirmed At Rapid Pace Despite ‘Historic’ Obstruction – 6/14/25)
- By contrast, 33 of President Trump’s first-term Article III judicial nominees were confirmed by voice vote, proving the historic nature of this recent Democrat obstruction. (U.S. Congress: President Trump Judicial Nominations (2017-2018) – accessed 7/16/26)
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THESE INDIVIDUALS CONFIRMED BY THE SENATE ARE HIGHLY QUALIFIED AND COMMITTED TO INTERPRETING THE LAW, NOT CREATING POLICY FROM THE BENCH
- Matthew Schwartz, confirmed to the Second Circuit, clerked for Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito from 2006-2007, and for Alito when he was on the Third Circuit, before joining the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and becoming a partner only five years later. (United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nomination Hearing – 5/20/26; Sullivan & Cromwell: Matthew A. Schwartz – accessed 7/16/26)
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- At his confirmation hearing, Schwartz paid tribute to Justice Alito and dedicated his service to “upholding the rule of law and by inspiring confidence in the federal judiciary.” (United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nomination Hearing – 5/20/26)
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- “When we clerked together for Justice Alito, I saw Matt exemplify so many of the qualities that matter most in a judge: intellectual discipline, raw intellectual horsepower, respect for the law and for the Constitution, and understanding that laws have meaning and it’s a judge’s job on so many instances to figure out what that meaning is using the tools available to lawyers to interpret the law.” – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah)
- Arthur “Rob” Jones, confirmed to the Southern District of Texas, served in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Air Force Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for 28 years, and has worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, where he has served in various roles, including executive assistant U.S. attorney, for nearly 25 years. (United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nomination Hearing – 4/29/26)
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- Asked about his commitment to an independent judiciary, Jones said he “believe[s] that the independence of the judiciary is vital to our country and … I would look at any case, were I lucky enough to be confirmed, solely on the facts and the law and I would follow those. And I would not have any regard for anything other than that in my courtroom.” (United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nomination Hearing – 4/29/26)
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- “[Jones has a distinguished record] of holding dangerous criminals accountable & enforcing the laws on the books to keep Americans safe & our southern border secure.” – Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)
- Jeffrey Kuntz has served on Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal for 10 years, including as chief judge since 2025, where he was appointed by then-Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) as the youngest intermediate appellate judge in Florida history. (United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nomination Hearing – 4/29/26)
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- At his confirmation hearing, Kuntz affirmed his commitment to upholding the law, not legislating from the bench: “As a judge for the last 10 years, I have been privileged to see the importance of an independent judiciary. I have judged each case without regard to the parties, who they were, or what the public might think. I follow the law in each case.” (United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nomination Hearing – 4/29/26)
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- “Chief Judge Kuntz is an experienced lawyer and jurist who has built a reputation for excellence, integrity, and deep respect for the rule of law… Chief Judge Kuntz’ experience, both as an advocate and judge, has prepared him well for service on the federal bench.” – Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.)
AS REPUBLICANS WORK TO FILL SEATS ON THE FEDERAL BENCH, DEMOCRATS CONTINUE SHARING THEIR RADICAL PLANS TO REMAKE THE JUDICIARY AND THREATS TO THE SUPREME COURT REMAIN HIGH
“With the 2026 midterms approaching and the 2028 presidential election right behind them, Democrats are raising a discredited ruse to pack the Supreme Court with additional justices… These orchestrated attacks on the judiciary undermine public trust in the institution tasked with upholding the rule of law, protecting individual rights and our system of checks and balances.” – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
“These disturbing instances… force us to confront the reality that the physical security of each member of the Supreme Court as a matter of constitutional consequence.” – Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Chairman Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)
- “The Democratic Socialists of America launched a new platform on Tuesday night, part of which calls to ‘replace’ the presidency and Supreme Court with ‘an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.’” (Washington Examiner: DSA’s new platform seeks to ‘replace’ presidency and Supreme Court, nix Electoral College – 7/14/26)
- “Democratic candidates are promising to overhaul the Supreme Court and embracing bolder positions in midterm campaigning than the lawmakers they’d replace—a sign of how angry the left is about the direction of the conservative-dominated court.”
- “‘It’s time to pack the court and establish term limits to reclaim our judiciary,’ [Democrat Congressional nominee Chris] Rabb wrote in a post.”
- Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul “El-Sayed’s campaign website calls the Supreme Court a ‘major impediment for democracy.’”
- “House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, potentially the next speaker, said at the American Progress Ideas Festival in May that ‘all options are on the table.’” (Bloomberg Law: Campaigning Democrats Amplify Calls to Overhaul Supreme Court – 7/8/26)
- Former Biden administration Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has joined the chorus: “The kind of radical institutional changes he’d like to see include: expanding SCOTUS and the House of Representatives, statehood for Washington, D.C., and directly electing the president by popular vote.” (The Bulwark: Pete Buttigieg: Time for Radical Change – 7/14/26)
- These left-wing intimidation attempts are having an effect: “Supreme Court Justices don’t often appear before Congress—the last time was 2019—but Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett made the trek to Capitol Hill Tuesday with an urgent request: They need more protection from violent threats.”
- “Justice Barrett’s home was targeted this year in a swatting attack, in which a fake disturbance is called into police to send law enforcement to a Justice’s home. She told lawmakers ‘threatening deliveries’ sometimes arrive in the name of federal Judge Esther Salas’s son, who was shot in 2020 at the family’s home by a gunman posing as a delivery driver.”
- “In his 2024 year-end report, Chief Justice John Roberts said threats against judges had more than tripled in the last decade. Federal marshals had investigated more than a thousand threats against judges in the previous five years. Hundreds of federal judges have faced threats this year, and Justice Kagan said the Supreme Court police force is projecting a 38% threat increase this year on top of a 25% increase last year.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: The Price of Politicizing the Supreme Court – 7/14/26)
- The justices testified that threats increased significantly after the leak of the Supreme Court’s Dobbsdecision in 2022, when left-wing activists ramped up their doxing, “intimidation, threats, and attacks against the justices.” (National Review: The Left’s War on the Supreme Court Continues – 6/11/26; U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations: A Review of the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request for the Supreme Court of the United States – 7/14/26)