President Donald Trump will have the opportunity to appoint judges to two influential U.S. Court of Appeals seats after Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton of the Sixth Circuit and Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit announced plans to assume senior status. Both judges were originally appointed by President George W. Bush. Senior status creates vacancies that allow for new presidential appointments.

The Sixth Circuit currently has a Republican-appointed majority, while the Second Circuit is narrowly controlled by Democratic appointees. The Second Circuit’s docket includes major cases on financial regulation, national security, and civil litigation, making a conservative appointment particularly consequential.

Trump’s judicial appointments are accelerating compared with his first term. Last year, he appointed 26 federal judges, surpassing the pace of both President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama during their first years. However, most of Trump’s second-term appointments have been at the district court level, with fewer opportunities to influence the more powerful appeals courts.

President Trump previously appointed 12 appeals court judges and three Supreme Court justices in his first term, compared with Biden’s 45 appeals court judges and one Supreme Court justice. Experts note that while the current number of vacancies is smaller than in 2017, openings like those created by Sutton and Livingston provide a significant chance to continue the president’s conservative judicial impact.