NPR: Observers see narrowing window to confirm Trump judicial picks this year
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on April 9, 2026.
JOHNSON: Recently, a Trump-appointed judge ignited an uproar in a case involving a spa that refused access to a transgender woman. The full 9th Circuit Appeals Court decided not to review claims by the spa, which argued an antidiscrimination law violated its constitutional rights. Judge Lawrence VanDyke, who was named to the bench in 2019 during Trump’s first term, wrote a dissent that drew national attention. His first line referenced a term for male anatomy. He went on to write, it’s far more jarring for women at the spa to see the, quote, “real thing” than for people to read about it in a court ruling. Rachel Rossi is president of Alliance for Justice, a group that advocates for progressive judges.
RACHEL ROSSI: Twenty-seven of the 51 judges on the 9th Circuit actually wrote that his – that Judge VanDyke’s crude and vitriolic language made them sound like juveniles, not judges, and it undermines public trust in the courts. And ultimately, that’s what this is about, right?