First Judicial Confirmation of Trump’s Second Term Approved by Senate

In a significant victory for constitutional originalism and judicial sanity, the U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Whitney Hermandorfer to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, marking the first judicial confirmation of President Donald Trump’s second term.

The vote, 46–42 along party lines, installs a deeply qualified, fiercely principled conservative legal mind to a critical appellate court that oversees Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Hermandorfer replaces Obama-era Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, marking a strategic shift in the ideological balance of the court.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley praised Hermandorfer as “a boon to the federal judiciary,” highlighting her work defending civil rights, the separation of powers, and her unwavering respect for the Constitution.

“She’s led major cases on civil rights and the separation of powers and is widely praised for her legal mind, impeccable qualifications, collegial nature and constitutionalist philosophy,” Grassley said.

Hermandorfer’s resume is impeccable and exactly the kind of excellence Trump has vowed to bring back to the federal bench:

• Director of the Strategic Litigation Unit in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office

• Former associate at the elite Williams & Connolly law firm in D.C.

• Clerked for Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett

• Graduate of Princeton University (magna cum laude) and George Washington University Law School (summa cum laude, first in her class, Editor-in-Chief of the GW Law Review)

• Former co-captain of the Princeton Women’s Basketball Team and staunch defender of girls’ and women’s sports

President Trump celebrated her confirmation on Truth Social, calling Hermandorfer “a Fighter who will inspire confidence in our Legal System” and praising her as someone who has “strongly litigated in court to protect citizens from federal government overreach.”

Democrats, predictably, smeared Hermandorfer as “partisan” and “inexperienced.” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) accused her of putting “Donald Trump ahead of the law” a bizarre claim given her spotless legal record and her own statement before the Senate:

“The proper role of a judge is to interpret the law and not make the law or bend the law to whatever policy preferences the judge might have individually,” she told the committee.

That’s the exact mindset Americans want on the bench one rooted in the Constitution, not the whims of unelected bureaucrats and activist jurists.

Hermandorfer’s confirmation is just the beginning. More Trump nominees are working their way through the Senate, and if his first term is any indication, dozens if not hundreds of judges will be appointed over the next four years, reshaping the judiciary for generations.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) called Hermandorfer “a benchmark of excellence” and added, “President Trump could not have made a better choice.”

With 21 Cabinet-level officials, 89 civilian nominees, and 12 ambassadors already confirmed, Trump’s second term is outpacing his first in building a government that works for the American people not the D.C. elite.

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