Tracking Trump in Court: The Scope of Executive Power Tested

The influence of President Donald Trump’s judicial picks on the nation’s largest appeals court faces an initial test as the historically liberal San Francisco-based bench weighs challenges to the administration’s agenda.

Trump reshaped the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit during his first term. He flipped four seats once held by judges tapped by Democrats, and the court now has 16 Democratic appointed and 13 Republican appointees on its active bench.

This has increased the odds that progressive litigants challenging Trump’s second term agenda might wind up with a conservative-majority panel.

It also makes their chances of winning a case heard en banc more of a wildcard.

The Ninth Circuit used to be more favorable to liberal litigants challenging policies during the first Trump administration, said University of Pittsburgh law professor Arthur Hellman. “Now, there are several other circuits that look at least as attractive, if not more so,” Hellman said.

The majority of major challenges against the second Trump administration have been filed in the DC Circuit, followed by the Boston-based First Circuit, according to Bloomberg Law’s litigation tracker, which includes significant cases against the executive branch.

US Supreme Court reversal data may also show the Ninth Circuit is becoming more ideologically balanced.

The Ninth Circuit, which once had the highest Supreme Court reversal rate, was the eighth most reversed court out of 11 appeals courts, excluding the DC and Federal Circuits, last term, according to data from Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor.

Still, all of the district courts within the Ninth Circuit have a majority of Democratic appointees, making them more favorable venues for progressive litigants. And the impact of Trump’s appointees is blunted by the significant number of semi-retired senior judges on the court who still hear cases.

Read More on the Ninth Circuit here.

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Updates with new story on the Supreme Court's recent grants of emergency relief for the Trump administration.