Senate Confirms Trump's Personal Lawyer Matthew Schwartz to a Powerful Appeals Court

The Senate on July 14 confirmed Matthew A. Schwartz, one of President Donald Trump's personal attorneys, to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, cementing another Trump ally on one of the nation's most influential courts.

The vote was 50-45, along party lines. Republicans lined up unanimously behind the nomination, while Democrats and the Senate's two independents opposed it, objecting to what they described as a conflict of interest in elevating a lawyer with close personal ties to the president. Schwartz, of New York, will fill the seat being vacated by Judge Debra Ann Livingston, who is retiring.

Schwartz is a partner at the prominent law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and has represented Trump in personal legal matters, a résumé that Democrats seized on during a contentious confirmation fight. The New York-based Second Circuit hears appeals from federal courts in New York, Connecticut and Vermont, and its rulings on financial regulation and securities law carry outsized weight because they govern Wall Street.

The confirmation capped a rapid march through the Senate. Trump announced his intention to nominate Schwartz to the appeals court on April 10 and formally sent the nomination to the Senate on April 27. The Judiciary Committee advanced it on June 18 on a 12-10 party-line vote, and the full Senate invoked cloture on June 24 by a margin of 52-45 before Tuesday's final confirmation.

The vote is part of a broader push by Senate Republicans to reshape the federal bench during the current term, working through a steady stream of Trump nominees to district and appeals courts. Majority Leader John Thune has prioritized judicial confirmations even as other parts of the legislative agenda have stalled, viewing lifetime appointments as among the most durable legacies the party can secure.

Democrats warned that seating one of the president's own lawyers on a court that could ultimately weigh cases touching the administration sets a troubling precedent. Republicans countered that Schwartz is highly qualified and that his private-practice experience will serve the court well. With his confirmation now final, Schwartz joins a Second Circuit whose decisions will shape American law long after the current political battles have faded.