The U.S. Senate has given its approval to President Donald Trump’s first—and so far only—appointment to the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reshaping a judicial body that for years had been dominated by Democratic appointees. This shift is viewed as a breakthrough for Trump, whose policy initiatives had frequently been challenged in New England’s federal courts, partly because no active judge on the 1st Circuit had been selected by a Republican president.

In a 52–46 vote that followed party lines, Senate Republicans confirmed Joshua Dunlap, a Maine attorney with a reputation for conservative legal advocacy, to a lifetime seat on the appellate bench. Dunlap’s confirmation marks the end of the 1st Circuit’s status as the last federal appeals court without any Republican-appointed judges.

Before this confirmation, the lack of conservative judges on the 1st Circuit made it a preferred venue for Democratic-led states and progressive advocacy groups seeking to block Trump-era policy changes. With Dunlap’s arrival, the balance of influence on the court has begun to shift, signaling a broader effort by the Trump administration to reshape the judiciary during his second term.

Dunlap’s path to the bench unfolded against a backdrop of political timing and judicial turnover. During President Joe Biden’s term, the White House attempted to fill the vacancy created by Judge William Kayatta’s transition to senior status. Biden nominated Julia Lipez, but the Senate did not confirm her before the 2024 election. Judge Kayatta, originally appointed by President Barack Obama, officially took senior status in October 2024—just days before voters returned Trump to the Oval Office. The timing left the seat open for Trump to fill early in his new term.

In July, Trump nominated Dunlap, a partner at Pierce Atwood, a law firm well-known in New England. Dunlap pledged that, if confirmed, he would “fearlessly defend our Constitution,” echoing themes common in Trump’s judicial selections. Dunlap’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree from Pensacola Christian College and a law degree from Notre Dame, where he graduated in 2008. During law school, he interned at the organization now known as Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group active in cases involving religious liberty and free speech.

Throughout his legal career, Dunlap has taken part in several high-profile challenges to state laws in Maine, including litigation involving the state’s paid family and medical leave program, campaign finance regulations, and the ranked-choice voting system used in Maine elections. His legal work has frequently aligned with conservative policy positions, making him a favored candidate among Senate Republicans.

Dunlap’s confirmation was the second judicial appointment approved by the Senate that week. Senators also voted to confirm Eric Tung, a former clerk for both Justice Neil Gorsuch and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, to a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That vote, 52–45, was similarly split along party lines.

Tung’s appointment is particularly significant for the 9th Circuit, a court long regarded as one of the most liberal in the country. With Tung’s confirmation, Trump adds yet another judge to a circuit he had already influenced heavily during his first term, when he appointed 10 judges between 2017 and 2020. Although the 9th Circuit still has a majority of Democratic-appointed judges—16 compared to 13 Republican appointees—the ideological gap has narrowed more sharply than in previous decades.

Trump nominated Tung in July to replace Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta, who had announced plans to step down once her successor was confirmed. Tung brings a diverse background to the position: he worked as a federal prosecutor, served in the Department of Justice, and built a career as a partner at Jones Day in Los Angeles. His professional ties to influential conservative jurists run deep; he clerked for Justice Gorsuch on two separate occasions and for Justice Scalia shortly before Scalia’s death in 2016.

Trump described Tung as a “Tough Patriot” and argued that his presence on the 9th Circuit would help maintain the rule of law in what he called “RADICAL, Leftist States” like California, Oregon, and Washington. Those states, along with six others, fall under the jurisdiction of the 9th Circuit and have frequently found themselves at odds with Trump’s policy agenda.

The twin confirmations of Dunlap and Tung signal a renewed push by the Trump administration to reshape the federal judiciary during his second term, particularly in those circuits that have historically leaned liberal. With these appointments, Trump aims to strengthen conservative influence across the appellate courts, where many of the nation’s most consequential legal decisions are made.