JP Collins
@profjpc.bsky.social
Law prof at GW Law. New Yorker turned Virginian. Former SDNY clerk and litigator at Sullivan & Cromwell. Studying and writing about court admin and the judiciary. #LFGM #COYS Papers here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=22389
Pinned
JP Collins
@profjpc.bsky.social
· Dec 19
How Trump Is Making the Federal Judiciary Younger, Whiter, and More Republican
Trump’s first year of second-term judicial nominations could have been worse. It is still very bad.
ballsandstrikes.org
Trump's 2025 judicial appointments year in review: it was bad, but could have been worse.
Reposted by JP Collins
NEW: As Trump appoints loyalists to lifetime judgeships, Senator Durbin — ranking member of the Judiciary Committee — has voted to confirm roughly a quarter of them since last year.
His votes are at odds w/ statements he's made during committee meetings. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/trump-is-a...
His votes are at odds w/ statements he's made during committee meetings. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/trump-is-a...
Trump is appointing loyalists to the bench. Senator Durbin has voted to confirm roughly a quarter of them.
His votes are at odds with statements he’s made during committee meetings.
nominationnotes.substack.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:41 PM
NEW: As Trump appoints loyalists to lifetime judgeships, Senator Durbin — ranking member of the Judiciary Committee — has voted to confirm roughly a quarter of them since last year.
His votes are at odds w/ statements he's made during committee meetings. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/trump-is-a...
His votes are at odds w/ statements he's made during committee meetings. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/trump-is-a...
Reposted by JP Collins
They're such incredibly dim bulbs. All they know is whom they hate. They have no idea what anything is for, why we had it, what it did while we had it.
Breaking, from me: An executive order from Oklahoma's governor directs most of the state's public colleges to "phase out tenure." #AcademicSky #HigherEd @chronicle.com
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
Tenure Will Be Eliminated at Most of Oklahoma’s Public Colleges, Governor Says
Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, directed the state’s two-dozen regional universities and community colleges to phase out the practice. Existing faculty members will be grandfathered in.
www.chronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:27 PM
They're such incredibly dim bulbs. All they know is whom they hate. They have no idea what anything is for, why we had it, what it did while we had it.
Because she’s really happy about it? That’s what her 100% support of Trump’s agenda suggests (to me, anyway)
February 5, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Because she’s really happy about it? That’s what her 100% support of Trump’s agenda suggests (to me, anyway)
Reposted by JP Collins
paragraph 48: "In Mr. Trump’s second term, Ms. Britt has voted in line with the president 100 percent of the time."
February 5, 2026 at 7:43 PM
paragraph 48: "In Mr. Trump’s second term, Ms. Britt has voted in line with the president 100 percent of the time."
Reposted by JP Collins
By a vote of 50-47, the #Senate confirmed Justin Olson to be a District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana.
Party Line vote with Senators Lee, McConnell and Moran not voting
Party Line vote with Senators Lee, McConnell and Moran not voting
February 5, 2026 at 7:26 PM
By a vote of 50-47, the #Senate confirmed Justin Olson to be a District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana.
Party Line vote with Senators Lee, McConnell and Moran not voting
Party Line vote with Senators Lee, McConnell and Moran not voting
Reposted by JP Collins
Well with people like Amy Chua recommending attractive women to Brett Kavanaugh as clerks, maybe it is common (at Yale, anyway)
February 5, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Well with people like Amy Chua recommending attractive women to Brett Kavanaugh as clerks, maybe it is common (at Yale, anyway)
Reposted by JP Collins
By a vote of 51-47 the #Senate invoked cloture on Justin Olson to be a District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana.
Party line vote with Senators McConnell and Moran not voting.
Party line vote with Senators McConnell and Moran not voting.
February 5, 2026 at 6:04 PM
By a vote of 51-47 the #Senate invoked cloture on Justin Olson to be a District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana.
Party line vote with Senators McConnell and Moran not voting.
Party line vote with Senators McConnell and Moran not voting.
The Senate is currently voting to invoke cloture on whacko Justin Olson, who said God “has called wives to be subject to their husbands” and that disabled people aren't fit for marriage. 3 Republicans missed an earlier vote today, making the votes of Senators Collins and Murkowski necessary.
February 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM
The Senate is currently voting to invoke cloture on whacko Justin Olson, who said God “has called wives to be subject to their husbands” and that disabled people aren't fit for marriage. 3 Republicans missed an earlier vote today, making the votes of Senators Collins and Murkowski necessary.
Agree 100%, and the data bears it out. Younger, whiter, fewer from T14 law schools, fewer AUSAs / BigLaw alums, but more with clerkships with far-right judges and justices and experience in Red State SG offices fighting on the front lines of the culture wars.
I want to emphasize how radically Trump's second-term judical appointments are going to change the American legal system. These are not the standard Ivy League FedSoc guys. They are election-denying freaks who earned Trump's favor because they are willing to say what he wants to hear.
Trump Is Building a Federal Judiciary of Delusional, Cowardly Loyalists
Judges have to decide cases based on facts. For Trump judges, the only facts that matter are the ones that he authorizes them to believe.
ballsandstrikes.org
February 5, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Agree 100%, and the data bears it out. Younger, whiter, fewer from T14 law schools, fewer AUSAs / BigLaw alums, but more with clerkships with far-right judges and justices and experience in Red State SG offices fighting on the front lines of the culture wars.
Reposted by JP Collins
I'm not under any illusions about how harmful and dangerous Trump's first-term judicial nominees were. I have written more about those guys than I care to remember. I am simply saying that it can get worse, and it is in fact getting worse, and honestly, worse than I might have guessed a year ago.
Opinion | Trump’s Next Supreme Court Picks Would Break the Mold (Published 2024)
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:59 PM
I'm not under any illusions about how harmful and dangerous Trump's first-term judicial nominees were. I have written more about those guys than I care to remember. I am simply saying that it can get worse, and it is in fact getting worse, and honestly, worse than I might have guessed a year ago.
Reposted by JP Collins
I want to emphasize how radically Trump's second-term judical appointments are going to change the American legal system. These are not the standard Ivy League FedSoc guys. They are election-denying freaks who earned Trump's favor because they are willing to say what he wants to hear.
Trump Is Building a Federal Judiciary of Delusional, Cowardly Loyalists
Judges have to decide cases based on facts. For Trump judges, the only facts that matter are the ones that he authorizes them to believe.
ballsandstrikes.org
February 5, 2026 at 4:57 PM
I want to emphasize how radically Trump's second-term judical appointments are going to change the American legal system. These are not the standard Ivy League FedSoc guys. They are election-denying freaks who earned Trump's favor because they are willing to say what he wants to hear.
No new judicial nominees were announced (publicly, at least) yesterday, so the next judiciary committee hearing won't be until March 11 at the earliest. (If some were quietly sent to the committee, they'd be eligible for a hearing on March 4.)
Peterson and Benton were confirmed today, Lea and Olson will be confirmed tomorrow. It'll be a few weeks before the four who appeared before the Judiciary Committee today will make it to the floor, so that'll be it for judges for at least the next three weeks.
Busy week for Trump's judges in the Senate. Two were confirmed today (Fowlkes and Ganjei), two will be confirmed tomorrow (Peterson and Benton), another will probably be confirmed on Thursday (Lea), and cloture was filed on another today (Olson). This would clear the floor.
February 5, 2026 at 2:46 PM
No new judicial nominees were announced (publicly, at least) yesterday, so the next judiciary committee hearing won't be until March 11 at the earliest. (If some were quietly sent to the committee, they'd be eligible for a hearing on March 4.)
A private right of action for constitutional violations / no qualified immunity or gtfo
Schumer & Jeffries lay out the Democratic demands for a DHS funding deal in a letter to the top Republican leaders
February 5, 2026 at 2:50 AM
A private right of action for constitutional violations / no qualified immunity or gtfo
Quite a year for Paul, Weiss
BREAKING: BRAD KARP OUT AS CHAIR OF PAUL WEISS.
Brad Karp to step down as Paul Weiss chair after Epstein revelations
Files released by US Department of Justice detailed his relationship with the child sex offender
www.ft.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:23 AM
Quite a year for Paul, Weiss
Reposted by JP Collins
Wow it sure looks like Judge Mark Wolf, a federal district judge in Boston, retired in order to end an inquiry into possible misconduct and then pretended he was retiring so he could speak out against Trump. Via the great @carriejohnson.bsky.social
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...
Newly released court records reveal misconduct inquiry into federal judge
A federal judge said he retired to speak out about threats to the rule of law. Newly released court orders suggest his exit coincided with a misconduct inquiry that ended when he stepped down.
www.npr.org
February 5, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Wow it sure looks like Judge Mark Wolf, a federal district judge in Boston, retired in order to end an inquiry into possible misconduct and then pretended he was retiring so he could speak out against Trump. Via the great @carriejohnson.bsky.social
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...
😍😍😍
Old friends, together again. @mst3kofficial.bsky.social rifftraxmakesmst3k.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:09 PM
😍😍😍
Reposted by JP Collins
Peterson and Benton were confirmed today, Lea and Olson will be confirmed tomorrow. It'll be a few weeks before the four who appeared before the Judiciary Committee today will make it to the floor, so that'll be it for judges for at least the next three weeks.
Busy week for Trump's judges in the Senate. Two were confirmed today (Fowlkes and Ganjei), two will be confirmed tomorrow (Peterson and Benton), another will probably be confirmed on Thursday (Lea), and cloture was filed on another today (Olson). This would clear the floor.
February 4, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Peterson and Benton were confirmed today, Lea and Olson will be confirmed tomorrow. It'll be a few weeks before the four who appeared before the Judiciary Committee today will make it to the floor, so that'll be it for judges for at least the next three weeks.
Reposted by JP Collins
The recent budget deal included enough funding for the federal defender program to lift its hiring freeze, so there are a lot of backlogged vacancies now being advertised, and more coming soon!
www.fd.org/employment/v...
I'll use this thread to post appellate openings, so feel free to mute it.
www.fd.org/employment/v...
I'll use this thread to post appellate openings, so feel free to mute it.
February 4, 2026 at 8:40 PM
The recent budget deal included enough funding for the federal defender program to lift its hiring freeze, so there are a lot of backlogged vacancies now being advertised, and more coming soon!
www.fd.org/employment/v...
I'll use this thread to post appellate openings, so feel free to mute it.
www.fd.org/employment/v...
I'll use this thread to post appellate openings, so feel free to mute it.
Reposted by JP Collins
My quick take on Dems still voting for Trump judges is that too many of the came up at a time when vote counts on judges were meaningless. Even during Bush 43, most judges were confirmed by voice vote and when a roll call vote was necessary, it was still 98-0. They don't see vote counts as a signal.
February 4, 2026 at 6:07 PM
My quick take on Dems still voting for Trump judges is that too many of the came up at a time when vote counts on judges were meaningless. Even during Bush 43, most judges were confirmed by voice vote and when a roll call vote was necessary, it was still 98-0. They don't see vote counts as a signal.
My quick take on Dems still voting for Trump judges is that too many of the came up at a time when vote counts on judges were meaningless. Even during Bush 43, most judges were confirmed by voice vote and when a roll call vote was necessary, it was still 98-0. They don't see vote counts as a signal.
February 4, 2026 at 6:07 PM
My quick take on Dems still voting for Trump judges is that too many of the came up at a time when vote counts on judges were meaningless. Even during Bush 43, most judges were confirmed by voice vote and when a roll call vote was necessary, it was still 98-0. They don't see vote counts as a signal.
Mark Kelly? The guy who whose military rank and pension are under attack by Trump's DoD? Voted for a Trump judge?
By a vote of 58-39, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Aaron Christian Peterson to be United States District Judge for the District of Alaska. Democrat Senators voting aye: Duckworth, Durbin, Hassan, Kaine, Kelly, Shaheen, and Whitehouse. Senators not voting: Crapo, McConnell, and Murphy.
February 4, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Mark Kelly? The guy who whose military rank and pension are under attack by Trump's DoD? Voted for a Trump judge?
Is there a single American institution that doesn't need to be rebuilt from the ground up?
February 4, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Is there a single American institution that doesn't need to be rebuilt from the ground up?
Reposted by JP Collins
Four more nominees (Davis, Wolfe, Shepherd, and St. John) will have their hearing tomorrow. And that's it. As far as we know, there are no other nominees pending anywhere in the Senate.
Busy week for Trump's judges in the Senate. Two were confirmed today (Fowlkes and Ganjei), two will be confirmed tomorrow (Peterson and Benton), another will probably be confirmed on Thursday (Lea), and cloture was filed on another today (Olson). This would clear the floor.
February 3, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Four more nominees (Davis, Wolfe, Shepherd, and St. John) will have their hearing tomorrow. And that's it. As far as we know, there are no other nominees pending anywhere in the Senate.