Trump’s appellate judge appointees have voted overwhelmingly in his favor
President Donald Trump’s appellate judge appointees have favored his position in many cases. (Photo by Charlie Neibergall/The Associated Press)
President Donald Trump, who promised to fill the appeals courts with “my judges,” has found them to be strong allies in defending his agenda from legal challenges, according to an analysis by the New York Times.
The judges have voted overwhelmingly in his favor when his administration’s actions have been challenged in court this term, an analysis of their 2025 records shows.
The New York Times story says Trump’s appointees voted to allow his policies to take effect 133 times and voted against them only 12 times. Ninety-two percent of their total votes were in favor of the administration. That figure exceeds support for his agenda from appeals court judges appointed by other Republican presidents and from Trump’s appointees to the district courts.
The New York Times analyzed every judicial ruling on Trump’s second-term agenda, from Jan. 20 to Dec. 31 of last year, or more than 500 orders issued across 900 cases.
About half of rulings at the appellate level were in Trump’s favor. That was better than his performance with district courts but worse than his record at the U.S. Supreme Court, where the rulings on his agenda have almost all been on a preliminary basis in response to emergency applications, according to the New York Times.
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