Senate Republicans Give Trump Two Big Wins
Senate Republicans advanced President Donald Trump’s personnel agenda on two fronts this week, confirming a new federal appeals court judge and approving more than 100 additional nominees through a streamlined process for executive branch appointments.
The Senate voted 48–43 to confirm Justin D. Smith of Missouri to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In a separate action, lawmakers approved a large group of Trump’s nominees, clearing a backlog that had frustrated the administration’s efforts to fill federal positions.
The victories strengthen Trump’s influence over both the judiciary and the agencies responsible for carrying out his policies, although the two confirmation tracks operate under different Senate procedures.
Smith, 41, succeeds retiring Judge William Duane Benton on an appeals court covering Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
A University of Missouri law graduate, Smith previously served as chief of staff to Eric Schmitt during Schmitt’s tenure as Missouri attorney general. His legal career also includes representing Trump in significant litigation, including the presidential immunity case before the Supreme Court.
Missouri’s two Republican senators welcomed his confirmation.
Schmitt praised Smith’s record of defending conservative principles and the rule of law. Sen. Josh Hawley emphasized his character and commitment to treating people fairly.
Hawley called Smith “a man of utmost integrity” and “the most kind-hearted, compassionate man you’ll ever meet.”
Republican supporters described Smith as an originalist committed to interpreting the Constitution according to its text and original meaning. They pointed to his work on pro-life issues, election integrity and challenges to federal regulatory authority as evidence of his legal experience.
For conservatives seeking a judiciary that respects the separation of powers, the appointment represents another opportunity to place a judge with that stated philosophy on an influential federal court.
Democrats opposed Smith’s confirmation, and one Republican joined them in voting against the nomination.
Critics questioned whether his work for Trump demonstrated excessive loyalty to the president. Republican supporters rejected that characterization, defending his qualifications and ability to administer impartial justice.
Smith’s lifetime appointment extends the potential impact of the confirmation well beyond the current administration. His supporters expect him to apply constitutional limits consistently as the Eighth Circuit considers disputes involving federal law and government authority.
The Senate’s second major action addressed a different obstacle: the accumulation of executive branch nominees awaiting confirmation.
Republicans approved more than 100 nominations together, using a procedural change adopted earlier this year that permits collective consideration of most executive branch appointments.
Cabinet secretaries and judicial nominees are excluded from that process. Smith’s confirmation therefore proceeded separately from the larger group.
The action marked the largest package of confirmations since Republicans changed the procedure and cleared the outstanding backlog covered by the vote.
GOP senators pursued the change after prolonged Democratic resistance slowed confirmations. They used the “nuclear option” to establish a new Senate precedent through a majority vote, allowing nominations covered by the rule to move together rather than requiring separate floor action for each.
Republicans had also briefly considered enabling Trump to make recess appointments, which would have allowed him to fill positions during a Senate adjournment.
Leadership ultimately set that proposal aside over concerns about the precedent it could create and how Democrats might use it when Republicans next find themselves in the minority.
The collective confirmation process instead gave the Senate a way to approve a substantial number of appointments while retaining its role in their consideration.
The debate over speeding nominations has developed alongside a separate dispute involving judicial appointments.
Late last year, Republicans examined ways to address a judicial nomination backlog they attributed to Democratic obstruction. Trump also criticized Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, for preserving the “blue slip” tradition.
That practice gives home-state senators influence over judicial nominations and can prevent a nominee from advancing when the required support is withheld.
Republicans discussed several procedural alternatives before meeting to consider how to accelerate confirmations.
One leading proposal resembled an idea Democrats had introduced two years earlier: permitting a single vote on as many as 10 nominees. Other options included shortening debate, making certain nominations nondebatable and removing procedural votes.
The majority-vote approach to changing Senate precedent offered Republicans a route around Democratic opposition. The resulting change for most executive branch nominations, however, does not eliminate the separate procedures governing judges or Cabinet secretaries.
This week’s votes demonstrate the practical consequences of those decisions. Trump secured another appellate judge through an individual confirmation vote while filling more than 100 other positions through the revised process.
For Senate Republicans, the combination delivers progress on two priorities: building a judiciary grounded in their constitutional philosophy and staffing the government with officials chosen to implement the president’s agenda.