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Trump 2.0: The Damage So Far

Trump’s nominees are making America less free, less fair, and less safe. From stripping away reproductive rights to undermining worker protections and democracy itself, their rulings put powerful interests over people — again and again. Here’s how their decisions are impacting our lives.

With Trump back in the White House, the damage from his judicial appointments is only getting worse. During his first term, he stacked the courts with 234 federal judges, including three Supreme Court justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — shifting the judiciary sharply to the right. These judges, handpicked with the help of conservative groups like the Federalist Society, have consistently ruled in favor of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of everyday people — workers, consumers, LGBTQ+ communities, people of color, women, and immigrants. They have eroded fundamental rights and protections — weakening voting rights, environmental safeguards, corporate accountability, and the constitutional checks and balances that keep executive power in check.

Now, in his second term, Trump is set to expand his grip on the courts even further. Proposed legislation like the JUDGES Act could add 66 new judgeships, giving him even more opportunities to cement a conservative stranglehold on the judiciary. Meanwhile, speculation about Supreme Court retirements could lead to even more far-right justices, solidifying a conservative supermajority for decades.

This series of fact sheets breaks down how Trump’s first-term judges are actively rolling back our rights — from economic justice to reproductive freedom to the future of our democracy.

Stay informed. Spread the word. Join the fight for fair courts.

If you want to take action on these nominees, visit our affiliated 501(c)(4) AFJ Action.

Labor & Economic Justice
  • Trump-appointed judges vote for corporations and against working people.
  • These judges are undermining wage protections, weakening unions, and restricting access to justice for employees facing discrimination and exploitation.
  • These actions not only hurt workers and consumers but our economy.
View/download the factsheet here.
Racial Justice & Immigration
  • Trump-appointed judges are undermining protections against racial and ethnic discrimination and making it more difficult to bring challenges under the rules that remain.
  • These same judges routinely rubber-stamp Trump’s anti-immigration policies and orders.
View/download the factsheet here.
Environmental Justice
  • Trump-appointed judges consistently rule for polluters, which is, of course, in line with the broader custom of Trump judges constantly aligning with the wealthy and powerful at the cost of America’s communities and individuals.
  • These judges are helping Big Oil’s campaign to block climate action and undermine our right to a clean environment, putting people’s health and future at risk.
  • These same judges are consistently undermining the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to ensure people have access to clean air and water.
View/download the factsheet here.
Gender & Reproductive Justice
  • Ideologue and extremist judges with lifetime appointments are mercilessly axing fundamental, well-established rights, including but not limited to reproductive freedom.
  • These rulings make it extremely difficult to access safe abortion and reproductive healthcare, putting the lives and wellbeing of millions of Americans at risk.
  • Our courts should be keeping us safe and protecting our basic reproductive rights – not stripping us of them.
View/download the factsheet here.
Criminal Legal Reform
  • Trump-appointed judges have consistently sided with harsh, outdated interpretations of the law that prioritize punishment over justice, with disproportionate impacts on people of color.
  • These judges have made it harder for wrongfully convicted people to challenge their imprisonment, even when new evidence proves their innocence, leading to the extended incarceration of innocent people.
  • Trump judges have used their power to deepen the cruelty of mass incarceration, criminalize poverty, and carry out executions of individuals without meaningful oversight or accountability.
View/download the factsheet here.
Democracy & Voting Rights
  • Trump judges have weakened our democracy by siding with those who seek to undermine democratic representation and limit voting rights.
  • These judges have allowed Republican-led states to further disenfranchise minority voters, eroding their right to have a government that truly represents or serves them.
  • They have also made it increasingly difficult for minority voters to challenge voting restrictions, racial gerrymandering, and the dilution of their votes.
View/download the factsheet here.

Check back each month as we expose the harmful rulings of Trump’s judges and their impact on our communities.

The chaos of Trump’s second term only heightens the importance of the work we have done — and will continue to do — to research and shine a light on the records of all nominees and to strongly oppose those whose records show they will not be fair-minded or that they are otherwise unfit.

Highlighting the appointees who threaten justice, progress, and democracy — and why we stand against them. Explore our opposition letters for these unqualified candidates below: