President Donald Trump has put far more federal judges in their 30s on the bench than his predecessors, a pattern that critics warn will shape the courts for decades, according to a Politico analysis of government data.
Across his two terms, Trump has appointed 31 people in their 30s to federal judgeships, with at least two more pending in the Senate. President Joe Biden appointed 13 judges in their 30s, and President Barack Obama appointed nine younger than 40 over two terms. A judge appointed in their 30s "can serve for as long as 60 years, and multiple sitting federal judges are in their 90s, including one who is 102," Politico reported.
"I think both parties, but especially Donald Trump in his second term, are placing a premium on youth because younger judges serve for longer and exert greater influence over important issues that come before the courts," David Lat, a lawyer-turned-writer who publishes the legal affairs Substack Original Jurisdiction, told the outlet.
Among the youngest is Samuel Adkisson, a White House Counsel's Office associate who was 33 when Trump nominated him to the Eastern District of Tennessee. Trump's announcement praised his work on a case that led the Supreme Court to "widen presidential control" over executive branch agencies. But Adkisson's confirmation hearing was curiously delayed this week after Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), one of his home-state senators, withheld her blue slip. She hasn't said why, and her office did not respond to Bloomberg Law's request for comment.
Young nominees are not new to Trump. In 2020, he nominated Kathryn Kimball Mizelle to a Florida court at 33, and the American Bar Association rated her "not qualified" largely over her lack of experience. At her hearing, Mizelle pointed to "my record, in-court litigation, and to the support that I have from over 200 attorneys." In 2018, Trump nominated Allison Jones Rushing, then 36, to the 4th Circuit.
Stanford law professor Orin Kerr questioned that choice at the time. "I worry about judges getting rather intoxicated with the judicial power," Kerr wrote.
