Joshua D. Dunlap

First Circuit
	Court of Appeals
Judgeships
	Posts: 6
	Judges: 6
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief:
	Active judges: Seth Aframe, David Barron, Joshua D. Dunlap, Gustavo Gelpí, Lara Montecalvo, Julie Rikelman; Senior judges:; Levin Hicks Campbell, Jeffrey R. Howard, William Kayatta, Kermit Lipez, Sandra Lea Lynch, Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Joshua Dunlap
	Court: United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Progress
	Confirmed 112 days after nomination.
	Nominated: July 15, 2025
	ABA Rating: Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: July 30, 2025
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: September 11, 2025
	Confirmed: November 4, 2025
	Vote: 52-46

Joshua D. Dunlap is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump (R) on July 15, 2025, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 4, 2025, by a vote of 52-46.^[1]^[2]^[3] To see a full list of judges appointed by Donald Trump, click here.

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is one of 13 U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Dunlap was a lawyer at Pierce Atwood, a law firm in Portland, Maine.^[4]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (2025-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

On July 15, 2025. President Donald Trump (R) nominated Dunlap to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.^[2] He was confirmed by a 52-46 vote of the U.S. Senate on November 4, 2025.^[5] Dunlap received commission on November 7, 2025.^[3] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Joshua D. Dunlap on November 4, 2025, on a vote of 52-46.^[5] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Joshua D. Dunlap confirmation vote (November 4, 2025)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	0	44	1
Republican	52	0	1
Independent	0	2	0
Total	52^[6]	46	2

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Dunlap's nomination on July 30, 2025. The committee voted to advance Dunlap's nomination to the full Senate on September 11, 2025.^[7]

Nomination

On July 2, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Dunlap to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The president officially nominated Dunlap on July 15, 2025.

Dunlap was nominated to replace Judge William Kayatta, who assumed senior status on October 31, 2024.^[8]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Dunlap well qualified.^[9] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Early life and education

Dunlap was born in Waterville, Maine. He earned a bachelor's degree from Pensacola Christian College in 2005 and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 2008.^[3]

Professional career

2025-present: Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
2009-2025: Private practice
2008-2009: Law clerk to Paul Kelly, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit^[3]

About the court

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Appeals are heard in the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts. There is another circuit courthouse located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the court sits for two weeks a year.

Two judges of the First Circuit went on to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Stephen Breyer was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994 by Bill Clinton (D), and David Souter was appointed in 1990 by George H. W. Bush (R).

The First Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases fall under federal law, and may be either civil or criminal in nature. Appeals of rulings by the First Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is the circuit justice for the First Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit has jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts:

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.