Joshua D. Dunlap
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Joshua D. Dunlap is a confirmed nominee to 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] Dunlap will join the court upon receiving his judicial commission and taking his judicial oath. Click here for more information on Dunlap's federal judicial nomination.
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.[3]
Judicial nominations and appointments
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- 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.[4] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
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| 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
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| Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript |
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: September 11, 2025
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| Confirmed: November 4, 2025
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| Vote: 52-46
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Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Joshua D. Dunlap on November 4, 2025, on a vote of 52-46.[4] 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[5] | 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.[6] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.
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.[7]
The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Dunlap well qualified.[8] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.
Biography
Education
Dunlap earned a law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
About the court
| First Circuit |
|---|
| Court of Appeals |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 6 |
| Judges: 5 |
| Vacancies: 1 |
| Judges |
| Chief: |
| Active judges: Seth Aframe, David Barron, Gustavo Gelpí, Lara Montecalvo, Julie Rikelman Senior judges: |
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:
- District of Maine
- District of Massachusetts
- District of New Hampshire
- District of Puerto Rico
- District of Rhode Island
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.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The White House, "Nominations Sent to the Senate," accessed July 15, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Truth Social, "Donald J. Trump," July 2, 2025
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, "Attorney in Portland nominated to federal appeals court in Boston," July 3, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcong - ↑ Note: The bolded number reflects the largest number.
- ↑ U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, "Executive Business Meeting," accessed September 11, 2025
- ↑ United States Courts, "Future Judicial Vacancies," accessed November 15, 2023
- ↑ American Bar Association, "STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY," accessed August 28, 2025
