The Enlightenment

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Welcome to The Judiciary at Noon. Take a break from work to get an update on the oft-neglected third branch of the United States government, the judicial branch.

The series covers any updates to the federal judiciary, including any new judges confirmed, any deaths, resignations, or retirements from the courts, and any new vacancies that have occurred. It includes political analysis at the very end. All information spans the previous week.

Confirmations

No judges were confirmed for the week spanning February 7 to February 13, 2025.

Vacancies

No vacancies occurred in the week spanning February 7 to February 13, 2025.

54 vacancies remain on the federal judiciary, a number unchanged from a week ago.

Retirements, Deaths, and Resignations

No judges died, retired, or resigned for the week spanning February 7 to February 13, 2025.

Analysis

While there haven’t been many changes in the composition of the federal judiciary this week, the political world is abuzz. More of Trump’s secretaries are being confirmed, including some of the more controversial ones like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

At the same time, Trump continues to be blocked by the courts. A plethora of his executive actions have been delayed, or blocked entirely. These include, but are not limited to, his directive to agencies not to recognize birthright citizenship; his ending of funding for USAID; his plan to “buyout” federal workers; and now Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have been banned from accessing Treasury payments.

Trump and his allies have responded aggressively to these judicial rebukes. His Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the judges’ actions are causing a “constitutional crisis” within the courts. Musk, as well as Vice President Vance, made similar remarks. Trump said he may need to take a “look at” the judges rendering these decisions. We will have to see if this threat impacts judicial behavior.

Meanwhile, reporting is emerging that Trump may be going ahead with his agenda in spite of judicial orders. This defiance of courts may present a constitutional crisis if the Executive Branch no longer obeys rulings from the Judicial Branch.

SIGN-OFF

That’s it for this week’s The Judiciary at Noon. This has been Anthony Myrlados.