SMU Law Review Forum
Abstract
Curious about the merits of judges Donald Trump appointed in his first term as president, we previously looked at the performance of Trump-appointed judges as compared to those appointed by other presidents. On a set of three measures—productivity, influence, and independence—the Trump judges performed as well, if not better, than judges appointed by Presidents Obama and Bush. As for President Biden’s appointees, they did systemically worse than Trump’s. Biden judicial selections were, at the time we did our prior study, however, new judges. Maybe, we wondered, these judges would do better on our measures a year or two hence? What follows are our preliminary results on that question. Our short answer is that Trump judges continue to dominate the Biden judges.
Recommended Citation
Stephen J. Choi & Mitu Gulati,
Trump v. Biden Judges,
79
SMU L. Rev. F.
24
(2026)
