Three-quarters of judges hearing challenges to Trump actions appointed by Democrats, analysis finds

About 75% of the judges hearing legal challenges to President Donald Trump's executive orders and other policy actions were appointed by Democrats, according to an analysis from an independent digital law and policy journal.

Just Security, based at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law, conducted the analysis of dozens of cases filed against the Trump administration to date.

According to the Just Security’s “Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions” litigation tracker, 60 of the federal district court judges hearing the challenges were appointed by Democrat presidents while 20 were appointed by Republicans. Additionally, two cases are being heard by the Superior Court of California by judges appointed by former Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown. The remaining 14 cases are being heard by magistrate judges who were not appointed by elected officials.

Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett called it a form of "judge shopping," noting that many of the restraining orders issued against the Trump administration were issued by Democrat-appointed judges.

"Democrats and liberal groups have been sprinting to favorable venues and preferable judges where the result is preordained in their favor against Trump," Jarrett said. "It's known derisively as budget shopping. Completely unethical. And many of these restraining orders have one common denominator. They're ordered by Democrat-appointed judges exceeding their authority, contorting the law to do it."

For example, the judge who blocked the Trump administration from banning transgender individuals from military service, Judge Ana Reyes of Washington D.C., was appointed by then-President Joe Biden. Reyes has a history of supporting left-wing causes and political candidates, The Center Square previously reported.

The judge who upheld the Trump administration's efforts to deport criminal foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally – Judge James Boasberg, appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama – attended a private legal conference last year that was funded by the Rodel Institute, Just the News reported. Rodel is funded by groups that have opposed Trump policies, including on immigration, Just the News reported.

The U.S. House this month passed legislation to block federal district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions, The Center Square reported. The bill's sponsor, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., cited Boasberg as a reason for filing it.

“My bill – The No Rogue Rulings Act of 2025 – won’t only deal with excesses like Judge Boasberg’s outrageous demands on the President and the Trump Administration,” Issa state, “it is the comprehensive solution we need to ensure that this problem does not occur anywhere in our federal judiciary and resets the proper and appropriate balance in our courts.”