The Utah Senate confirmed the final two nominees to the state Supreme Court, completing a Republican-driven transformation that has given Gov. Spencer Cox more appointments to the bench than any governor in Utah history. The court now sits at its expanded seven-member capacity.

The confirmations follow legislative expansion of the court from five to seven seats, combined with retirements and resignations that created multiple vacancies. Critics have questioned whether the expansion was designed to increase Republican influence over the judiciary.

Both confirmed justices are Cox appointees. The Tribune reports that the restructuring has reshaped the state's highest court in ways that will affect rulings for decades.