Despite his own background as a preacher, Wingate successfully proposed that the salaries for the two chaplains of the Continental Congress be cut by 25% probably due at least partly to the Confederation's untenable financial problems.

Between 1789 and 1794, the U.S. Senate's deliberations were conducted in secret, which Wingate supported: "How would all the little domestic transactions of even the best regulated family appear if exposed to the world; and may not this apply to a larger body?"

"[7] While in the Senate, Wingate served on the committee that drafted the Judiciary Act of 1789, which set up the federal court system.

[9] After his national service, Wingate succeeded Daniel Newcomb as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, serving from 1798 to 1808.

According to Theophilus Parsons, "it was of great importance, that your Judge Wingate should form a correct opinion before he pronounces it—for after that, law, reason, and authority will be unavailing.