Charting the Long-Term Impact of Trump’s Judicial Appointments
Beyond the Supreme Court, not only has President Donald Trump appointed judges at a quicker pace than his predecessor, he’s appointing younger judges who may serve for many more years.
President Donald Trump says he considers one of his greatest accomplishments to be appointing a record number of federal judges. But the tally doesn’t tell the full story. Trump’s appointees to the Supreme Court and appeals courts tend to be younger than appointees by presidents going back to Richard Nixon by about four years on average. As a result, because these are lifetime appointments, they’re poised to serve for decades to come, shaping American law and politics long after Trump leaves office. Of the current nine Supreme Court justices, Amy Coney Barrett, 48, just confirmed Monday, was the second-youngest when appointed.
To get a sense for how younger judges may affect the balance of the federal judiciary, we’ve charted each judge by their age when they were appointed, their current age and when they would hit the average age of retirement for their position.
ProPublica analysis of Federal Judicial Center's Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges.
Average retirement age was calculated based on judges appointed on or after 1970 who have retired, resigned, died or taken senior status on the court.