Why Donald Trump’s Judicial Picks Will Be the Most Powerful Judges in Decades

Some Biden-era rules have already been overturned using the ruling that shifted power from the executive branch to the judiciary.

Supreme Court

Unless Congress starts writing more specific laws and taking hard votes power will slide to judges instead. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

If enacted, Donald Trump’s sweeping proposals on immigration, the federal workforce and education will almost certainly end up in the courts.

And thanks to the Supreme Court, the judges presiding will have a lot more power over what those policies look like. That could make Donald Trump’s judicial picks the most powerful judges in decades, most of whom will remain on the bench long after Trump is term-limited out of office.

Over the summer, the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright ruling overturned a 40-year-old precedent of letting the executive branch interpret ambiguous laws, theoretically limiting either party’s power from the White House. Supporters praised the decision as taking power away from “unelected bureaucrats.”