Prospects For The U.S. Federal Courts

President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been controversial, particularly in light of the Republican-controlled Senate's refusal to consider President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.  Much attention has been focused on what the potential impact will be of the Barrett nomination, along with President Trump's appointments of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, on the direction of the Supreme Court.

Lasting footprint on the federal courts

Less attention has been given to the Trump Administration's impact on the composition of the lower federal courts: the District Courts in which cases are tried and the Circuit Courts of Appeals that decide appeals from the District Courts and are the final arbiters of most federal cases, which never reach the Supreme Court. Those judicial