by Jorge Gomez • 3 minutes
The U.S. Senate recently confirmed the first round of judges of President Trump’s second term.
Whitney Hermandorfer was confirmed in a 46-42 vote to replace an Obama-era appointee on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Whitney Hermandorfer’s confirmation is a boon to the federal judiciary,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “I am confident she will be an excellent federal judge.”
“As the Director of the Strategic Litigation Unit in Tennessee, 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 added.
“Whitney Hermandorfer has a solid record on religious liberty and an especially good record fighting against government overreach,” said Hiram Sasser, Executive General Counsel at First Liberty. “We did a deep dive into her record and believe the data trend demonstrates that she will continue to be a supporter of religious liberty and limited government.”
While in private practice, Hermandorfer filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of several religious organizations. The case involved a dispute between a Catholic church in Chicago and a music director who entered into a same-sex marriage in violation of his employment agreement.
In that brief, Hermandorfer argued that religious organizations and churches must be free to select and supervise their ministers and to communicate the teachings of their faith free from government interference. A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the church and held that religious organizations have the freedom to choose and supervise their leaders.
The Senate also confirmed two judges for federal district courts in Missouri. An additional two nominees for Missouri federal courts are awaiting a confirmation vote.
In a Senate floor speech, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri highlighted the winning records of Missouri’s four district court nominees and thanked the President for nominating constitutionalists to the federal bench.
“Each of these four individuals will soon take his or her place on the federal bench, and I am confident will be a great credit, not just to my state but to the United States, where I hope they will serve as federal judges for a very long time to come,” Sen. Hawley said.
Trump Urges Senate to Confirm Pending Nominees ASAP
Senate Republican leadership is facing increased pressure, as court watchers point out that judicial nominations are off to a much slower start compared to Trump’s first term.
After Hermandorfer’s confirmation, President Trump urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune to cancel the chamber’s summer recess and its long weekend breaks to confirm more nominees.
According to the Senate schedule for 2025, the August recess is set to begin on Aug 4. and last up until Labor Day, or Sept. 1.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “Hopefully the very talented John Thune, fresh off our many victories over the past two weeks and, indeed, 6 months, will cancel August recess (and long weekends!), in order to get my incredible nominees confirmed. We need them badly!!! DJT.”
Sen. Thune recently told the press that his plan is to tee up more nominees for confirmation votes
“Our job now is to continue the good work that we began during the first Trump administration by filling those vacancies with more judges who understand the proper role of a judge,” he said.
Thune also explained that judicial confirmations are happening at a slower pace because there are less vacancies to fill than there were during the first Trump administration. Unlike his first term, when Trump inherited over 100 judicial vacancies, his second term currently has about 50 vacancies to fill out of nearly 900 federal judgeships.
There about 10 nominees working their way through the confirmation process, according to the Senate’s Executive Calendar. President Trump also sent three more nominees to the Senate recently.
First Liberty will continue evaluating the record of judicial nominees and providing the facts to the administration on which ones are best qualified to protect your religious freedom.
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