A second Trump presidency could bring even more important judicial selections than his first term.
During his first term, President-elect Donald Trump was able to confirm three new Supreme Court Justices in Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. He also got through 234 other federal judges.
Retirements on the Supreme Court are possible over the next four years and with a Republican-controlled Senate, Trump could end up with a majority of his appointees on the bench of the highest court in the land after he leaves office.
Houston-based Attorney Michele Maples said the process of appointing more judges should be much smoother for President-elect Trump this time around for a few reasons.
"One, there's been the abolition of the filibuster which means confirmations will happen quicker and then there's also an abolition of a 30-hour debate period," she explained.
District Court Judges had to have 30 hours of debate before getting confirmed. That no longer exists so the confirmation period will happen on a much more expedited basis for both the District Court and Supreme Court levels.
According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, there are currently 47 federal judicial vacancies and 20 more are expected to open up in the near future. The American Constitution Society says President Joe Biden had 28 nominees still pending confirmation as of last month. The 47 openings are way less than the 108 that Trump had to address when he first entered office in 2017.
"He's (Trump) coming in to this term with half the number and so again it all just depends on justices that decide to retire," said Maples. "We can see with his cabinet selections too that it's been millennials and we can sort of expect that sort of age group to be picked.
Maples still expects the Democrats will try and make the process of Trump appointing new judges and justices tougher than it needs to be.
"You better believe the Democrats have a playbook that they're willing to use to try and throw up any sort of road blocks that they can," Maples said.
It would be safe to say that this second Trump presidential term will be an impactful one on the country's judicial branch for decades to come.