Law360's Guide To Trump's Judicial Picks

By Andrew Kragie and Jimmy Hoover | September 12, 2019, 5:36 PM EDT

Updated Jan. 20, 2021 | President Donald Trump reshaped the federal judiciary at a staggering rate thanks to laser-focused Senate Republicans who oversaw the confirmation of three Supreme Court justices, 54 circuit judges and more than 170 district judges.

The 45th president's success in securing lifetime appointments for right-leaning jurists owes much to the shrewd politicking from GOP Senate leaders, who have fast-tracked the president's nominees to the chagrin of Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his "goal" was to confirm "as many circuit judges as fast as we could." Indeed, appellate nominees have moved through the confirmation much faster than trial-court picks in Trump's first years: 156 days compared to 270 days. McConnell said the pace would continue through 2020 and extend to the district courts: "We're not going to leave a single vacancy behind by the end of next year."

Some tactics that have rankled the minority include holding confirmation hearings for more than one appellate nominee at a time, advancing nominees without approval from both home-state senators and ending the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. McConnell has defended his expeditious approach: "Advice and consent means whatever the majority at any given moment thinks it means."

Getting Trump picks confirmed hasn't always been smooth, and several nominees with controversial records have been sent packing. That fate nearly befell the president's second Supreme Court nominee, now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, after late-breaking allegations of sexual misconduct in the 1980s — but a few moderate senators pushed his nomination over the line.

After restocking the appellate courts, the Senate turned to nominees for the nation's district courts. This interactive tracker shows the status for each vacancy and each nominee.

Click to view interactive version


Here's a profile of Trump's appointments to the federal appellate courts around the country, followed by a listing of his nominees to district courts.


Appointment Scorecard




Circuit Courts of Appeals


2

vacant
seats

1

pending
nominations

54

confirmed
judges






U.S. District Courts


43

vacant
seats

21

pending
nominations

174

confirmed
judges



U.S. SUPREME COURT


Amy Coney Barrett

Age: 48
Law School: Notre Dame Law School
Formerly: Judge, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Nominated: Sept. 26, 2020
Confirmed: Oct. 26, 2020
Justice Barrett succeeded the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose death 46 days before Election Day allowed Senate Republicans to give Trump a third appointment and cement a conservative majority on the high court. After three years on the Seventh Circuit, the former constitutional law professor saw a deeply partisan confirmation vote the week before the election.

Brett Kavanaugh

Age: 50
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Judge, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
Nominated: July 9, 2018
Confirmed: Oct. 6, 2018
The monumental battle over the confirmation of Trump's second Supreme Court Justice could fundamentally change the Senate. For months Senators wrestled with sexual assault allegations against Judge Kavanaugh, his judicial views on abortion, executive authority and more before ultimately confirming him on a two-vote margin, the narrowest in the last century.

Neil Gorsuch

Age: 50
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Judge, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
Nominated: Jan. 31, 2017
Confirmed: April 7, 2017
The selection of then-Tenth Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was one of Trump's first acts as president and may prove his most consequential. Justice Gorsuch's April confirmation capped a yearlong saga that included President Barack Obama's failed nomination of Judge Merrick Garland and a Senate rule change by Republicans forcing through Trump's pick. The political hardball appears to be paying off, as Justice Gorsuch has already aligned himself with the court's conservatives.

D.C. CIRCUIT


Gregory Katsas

Age: 53
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Deputy counsel to President Trump; partner, Jones Day
Confirmed: Nov. 28, 2017
Veteran Washington litigator Gregory G. Katsas replaced retired D.C. Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown on what's often called the country's second most powerful court. Katsas gained prominence arguing high-profile appeals as a partner at Jones Day, including the first challenge to the Affordable Care Act at the Supreme Court. His former role as White House deputy counsel raised concerns about his ability to fairly review administrative policy — a regular part of the D.C. Circuit's specialized docket.

Neomi Rao

Age: 45
Law School: University of Chicago Law School
Formerly: Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Confirmed: March 13, 2018
Trump chose the lawyer overseeing his administration's regulatory rollback to replace Justice Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit. Neomi Rao, a conservative academic with developed views on administrative law, would likely bring Kavanaugh's skepticism of government agencies to the specialized appeals court, which hears a number of rulemaking challenges. Before her confirmation on a 53-46 vote Rao faced criticism from both sides of the aisle for her views on abortion, administrative law and college age writings on issues like sexual assault.


FIRST CIRCUIT


Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach

Age: 53
Law School: University of Puerto Rico School of Law
Currently: Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
Nominated: Nov. 13, 2020
A year after appointing Judge Arias-Marxuach to the federal bench in Puerto Rico, Trump proposed elevating him to the First Circuit to succeed the late Judge Juan M. Torruela, the first and only Hispanic on the appeals court that covers Puerto Rico as well as New England. Judge Arias-Marxuach previously spent nearly 25 years with San Juan-based McConnell Valdes LLC, where he served as vice chair of the litigation practice group.

SECOND CIRCUIT


Joseph F. Bianco

Age: 52
Law School: Columbia Law School
Formerly: U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of New York
Confirmed: May 9, 2019
A former Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, Bianco has served as a federal district judge for the last 13 years before President Donald Trump picked him in October for a Second Circuit seat. Both of New York's Senators have opposed Judge Bianco's as part of a spat over one of Trump's other Second Circuit picks, but Republicans have advanced both despite that.

Steven J. Menashi

Age: 40
Law School: Stanford Law School
Formerly: Special assistant and senior associate counsel to President Trump
Confirmed: Nov. 14, 2019
Trump named one of his top legal advisers, a special assistant and senior associate counsel to the president who previously served as acting general counsel at the Department of Education, to the Second Circuit. Earlier, Menashi was an assistant professor of law at George Mason University, where he taught courses in administrative law and civil procedure. Menashi also was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York, where his practice focused on civil and regulatory litigation.


William J. Nardini

Age: 50
Law School: Yale Law School
Formerly: Chief of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut
Confirmed: Nov. 7, 2019
The career federal prosecutor who clerked with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor won praise from his state's two Democratic U.S. senators for his "long, deep connections with the Connecticut legal community." His confirmation brought the Second Circuit to partisan parity, with six judges appointed by Republicans and six by Democrats.

Michael H. Park

Age: 42
Law School: Yale Law School
Formerly: Partner, Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC
Confirmed: May 9, 2019
A prominent litigation attorney, Park was involved in the lawsuit over alleged admission bias at Harvard, litigation over the Waters of the United States rule at the Supreme Court and more. Both of New York's Democratic senators opposed Park over his advocacy on issues like abortion, affirmative action and environmental rules, but Republicans confirmed him 52-41.

Richard J. Sullivan

Age: 54
Law School: Yale Law School
Formerly: U.S. District Judge, Southern District of New York
Confirmed: Oct. 11, 2018
The elevation of the longtime district judge to a Second Circuit vacancy was one of the few circuit court judges advanced with bipartisan support in Trump's first years. An adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, Judge Sullivan also served as general counsel and Managing Director of Marsh Inc. and as a federal prosecutor. His nomination followed months of negotiations between New York's Democratic senators and the White House.

THIRD CIRCUIT


Stephanos Bibas

Age: 48
Law School: Yale Law School
Formerly: Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School; prosecutor, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
Confirmed: Nov. 2, 2017
Judge Bibas' 53-43 confirmation made him Trump's eighth appellate nominee to win approval and 13th federal judge overall. A former federal prosecutor with a reputation as a criminal law expert, Bibas previously taught law at the University of Pennsylvania and argued six cases at the Supreme Court. The newly minted judge faced questions about his choices as a prosecutor and his writings about corporal punishment.

Paul Matey

Age: 47
Law School: Seton Hall University School of Law
Formerly: Senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, University Hospital in Newark, N.J.
Confirmed: March 12, 2019
New Jersey's two Democratic senators objected to the nomination of the former aide to the state's GOP governor, Chris Christie, whom he served as senior counsel after working with him at the U.S. attorney's office. The Senate confirmed him 54-45.

Peter J. Phipps

Age: 46
Law School: Stanford Law School
Formerly: Senior trial counsel, Federal Programs Branch, DOJ's Civil Division
Confirmed: July 16, 2019
Judge Phipps won Senate confirmation to the Third Circuit after sitting on the federal bench in Pittsburgh for less than a year. Following the selection of Jones Day litigator Gregory Katsas for the D.C. Circuit in 2017, Judge Phipps became another name from the law firm that Trump tapped for a high-profile seat, though he worked there more than a decade ago. In the meantime, he served as a lawyer in the Justice Department's Civil Division.

David J. Porter

Law School: Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University
Formerly: Shareholder, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
Confirmed: Oct. 11, 2018
Longtime Buchanan attorney David J. Porter was confirmed by the Senate over the objections of Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who said Porter is "far outside the mainstream." Casey claimed that Porter's views would denigrate worker rights, healthcare access and equal protection but did not stall his nomination.

FOURTH CIRCUIT


A. Marvin Quattlebaum

Age: 53
Law School: University of South Carolina School of Law
Formerly: U.S. District Judge, District of South Carolina
Confirmed: Aug. 16, 2018
Fourth Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum was President Donald Trump's first judge to be confirmed to both a trial court and appellate court judgeship. A former Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP partner, Quattlebaum's practice focused on commercial litigation.

Jay Richardson

Law School: University of Chicago Law School
Formerly: Deputy chief of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina
Confirmed: Aug. 16, 2018
Fourth Circuit Judge Jay N. Richardson would come to the bench from a prosecutorial career in South Carolina that includes the prosecution of Dylann Roof, convicted in 2016 in a mass shooting in a Charleston church. Richardson previously worked at Kellogg Hansen as an associate.

Allison Jones Rushing

Age: 36
Law School: Duke University School of Law
Formerly: Partner, Williams & Connolly LLP
Confirmed: March 5, 2019
A highly active appellate attorney, Rushing represented a wide variety of clients at the trial and appellate level, including Silk Road defendants at the Supreme Court, Liberty Tax owners at the Fourth Circuit in a $4 million dispute and more. The youngest of President Donald Trump's appellate judges so far, she faced Democratic criticism over her age and Republicans' holding her confirmation hearing during a Congressional recess.

FIFTH CIRCUIT


Cory T. Wilson

Age: 49
Law School: Yale Law School
Formerly: Judge, Mississippi Court of Appeals
Nominated: March 30, 2020
The former Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP partner became a state judge in 2019 after three years as a Republican in the state Legislature. He was previously tapped for a federal district judgeship in Mississippi, but Trump named Judge Wilson after a few Senate Republicans objected to a previous nominee as insufficiently conservative. At Judge Wilson's confirmation hearing for his previous nomination, Democrats charged that he was too partisan for the federal judiciary.

Stuart Kyle Duncan

Age: 45
Law School: Louisiana State University Law Center
Formerly: Partner, Schaerr Duncan
Confirmed: April 24, 2018
Former Schaerr Duncan LLP partner Kyle Duncan was confirmed to the Fifth Circuit in late April on a 50-47 tally, Trump's 15th appeals court judge to get Senate approval. Duncan served as Louisiana's solicitor general and appellate chief before joining the private sector. He also served as general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and as chief counsel for the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. challenge to the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate as it made its way to the Supreme Court.

Kurt D. Engelhardt

Age: 56
Law School: Louisiana State University Law Center
Formerly: Chief U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Louisiana
Confirmed: Sept. 28, 2017
Judge Kurt Engelhardt served as chief district judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and takes over a vacancy on the Fifth Circuit. During his time on the bench, he has adjudicated several high-profile criminal trials, including one for five police officers accused of shooting evacuees during Hurricane Katrina.

James C. Ho

Age: 44
Law School: University of Chicago Law School
Formerly: Partner, Gibson Dunn; solicitor general of Texas
Confirmed: Dec. 14, 2017
Former Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP partner Jim Ho was confirmed to the Fifth Circuit on Dec. 14, becoming the first Asian-American judge on the New Orleans-based appeals court, and the sixth sitting Asian-American judge in the country. Ho served early in his career as a clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas and later became solicitor general for Texas before joining the firm.

Andrew S. Oldham

Age: 39
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: General counsel to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
Confirmed: July 18, 2018
Judge Oldham previously served as general counsel to Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott and the state's deputy solicitor general. Before that, Oldham worked with Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick in Washington, D.C., and clerked with Justice Samuel Alito and D.C. Circuit Judge David B. Sentelle.

Don Willett

Age: 51
Law School: Duke University School of Law
Formerly: Justice, Texas Supreme Court; deputy attorney general of Texas for legal counsel
Confirmed: Dec. 13, 2017
Judge Willett served on his state's high court for 12 years before he was confirmed to the Fifth Circuit. An alumnus of the George W. Bush administration and the Texas Attorney General's Office, Willett was best known for his witty Twitter account, which won a broad following. It's not clear whether the Supreme Court contender will continue his social media activity while on the federal appellate bench.

SIXTH CIRCUIT


John K. Bush

Age: 53
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Partner, Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP
Confirmed: July 20, 2017
Sixth Circuit Judge John K. Bush, one of Trump's more controversial judicial nominees, was confirmed by the Senate 52-47 in the face of Democratic criticism over the judge's partisan blog posts and past public statements. In one post, Judge Bush appeared to conflate decisions of "activist justices" in the Dred Scott case and Roe v. Wade. Bush previously helped lead the litigation department at Bingham Greenebaum, representing corporate clients like Philip Morris USA Inc. and Humana Inc. 

Joan Louise Larsen

Age: 48
Law School: Northwestern University School of Law
Formerly: Justice, Michigan Supreme Court; professor, University of Michigan School of Law
Confirmed: Nov. 1, 2017
The former clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia won confirmation 60-38. She also worked as a Sidley Austin LLP associate and spent time in academia before being named to the Michigan Supreme Court. At her confirmation hearing, Justice Larsen defended her impartiality as Democrats probed her time at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in the George W. Bush administration. She was among the first 11 judges on Trump's Supreme Court short list in May 2016.

Eric Murphy

Age: 39
Law School: University of Chicago Law School
Formerly: State solicitor of Ohio
Confirmed: March 7, 2019
The Senate confirmed Sixth Circuit Judge Eric Murphy, who represented Ohio's attorney general at the appellate level for years, over the objections of Ohio's homestate Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. He and other Democrats opposed his nomination over arguments he made in the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges case on marriage equality and other issues.

John Nalbanian

Law School: University of Virginia School of Law
Formerly: Partner, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Confirmed: May 15, 2018
Trump's fourth pick to the Sixth Circuit, litigation partner and lead appellate lawyer at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP John B. Nalbandian, was confirmed in May 2018. He represented major telecommunications infrastructure companies like Fiberlight, pharmaceutical companies, West Virginia residents in a class action suit against DuPont and others.

Chad A. Readler

Age: 46
Law School: University of Michigan Law School
Formerly: Acting assistant U.S. attorney general and principal deputy assistant U.S. attorney general, DOJ Civil Division
Confirmed: March 6, 2019
The Senate confirmed Sixth Circuit Judge Chad Readler over the objections of Sen. Brown, all Democrats and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, over his involvement in an Affordable Care Act case as a Justice Department official. Democrats uniformly opposed Readler's nomination, and sought to tie a vote against Readler to support for the ACA's pre-existing conditions coverage mandate.

Amul Thapar

Age: 48
Law School: UC Berkeley School of Law
Formerly: U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Kentucky
Confirmed: May 25, 2017
Judge Thapar was Trump's first appellate nominee to take the bench after a 52-44 vote largely along party lines in May 2017. Republicans praised his nine-year tenure as a U.S. district judge in Kentucky. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said Thapar was "not right" for the people of Michigan, which is included in the Sixth Circuit. Judge Thapar appeared on Trump's Supreme Court short list in September 2016.

SEVENTH CIRCUIT


Amy Coney Barrett

Age: 45
Law School: Notre Dame Law School
Formerly: Professor, Notre Dame Law School
Confirmed: Oct. 31, 2017
Judge Barrett started her career as a clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and later spent over a decade teaching at Notre Dame Law School. Barrett's Catholic faith, however, inspired the brunt of her questioning during a her confirmation hearing, with Democrats questioning her impartiality. Barrett insisted her personal views would not affect her role as a judge and was confirmed by a 55-43 vote. The month after her confirmation she appeared on Trump's Supreme Court short list.

Michael Brennan

Age: 53
Law School: Northwestern University School of Law
Formerly: Partner, Gass Weber Mullins
Confirmed: May 10, 2018
Judge Brennan served on the state bench in Milwaukee County for nearly a decade before leaving to join Gass Weber Mullins LLC, where he developed a trial and appellate practice. Brennan's conservative credentials — which include founding the Federalist Society's Milwaukee chapter and defending Wisconsin's "informed consent" abortion law while an assistant district attorney in the 1990s — suggest that he will further push the Chicago appeals court to the right.

Michael Y. Scudder

Law School: Northwestern University School of Law
Formerly: Partner, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP
Confirmed: May 14, 2018
The former clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy had spent nearly a decade on white collar and government enforcement matters with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, which he joined after serving as general counsel to President George W. Bush's National Security Council. The White House and Illinois's two Democratic senators worked together on his nomination, a rarity in the Trump administration.

Amy J. St. Eve

Age: 52
Law School: Cornell Law School
Formerly: U.S. District Judge, Northern District of Illinois
Confirmed: May 14, 2018
The judge was elevated after more than 15 years on a federal district court, where she presided over several high-profile Chicago trials, including one in 2013 which she reprimanded President Donald Trump when he was still best known as a brash billionaire real estate mogul. The White House and Illinois's two Democratic senators worked together on her nomination, a rarity in the Trump administration.

EIGHTH CIRCUIT


Ralph Erickson

Age: 58
Law School: University of North Dakota School of Law
Formerly: U.S. District Judge, District of North Dakota
Confirmed: Sept. 28, 2017
One of the few judicial nominees to garner significant bipartisan support so far in Trump's term, former North Dakota U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson was approved to the Eighth Circuit by the Senate in a 95-1 vote on Sept. 28. A county and state court judge before joining the federal bench in 2003, Judge Erickson has chaired the U.S. Sentencing Commission's tribal issues advisory group.

L. Steven Grasz

Age: 55
Law School: University of Nebraska College of Law
Formerly: Senior counsel, Husch Blackwell LLP; chief deputy attorney general of Nebraska
Confirmed: Dec. 12, 2017
Senate Republicans confirmed Husch Blackwell senior counsel L. Steven Grasz to a seat on the Eighth Circuit, brushing aside Democrats' concerns about his partisan bent and a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association. Grasz served as a longtime deputy assistant attorney general for the state of Nebraska, and his tenure there proved a flash point in considering his nomination.

Jonathan A. Kobes

Age: 44
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Deputy chief of staff and counsel, U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.
Confirmed: Dec. 11, 2018
Judge Kobes became the first Trump appeals court nominee to win confirmation through a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence after outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., withheld his support over concerns about protecting the special counsel's investigation. The American Bar Association gave a "not qualified" to Kobes, a former federal prosecutor turned Senate aide.

David R. Stras

Age: 42
Law School: University of Kansas School of Law
Formerly: Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
Confirmed: Jan. 30, 2018
Judge Stras won confirmation 56-24 despite opposition from then-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., bucking a decades-old tradition of deference home-state senators. At his committee hearing Stras defended his record at Minnesota's high court, including his inclination to defer to lawmakers. He was among the first 11 judges on Trump's Supreme Court short list in May 2016.

NINTH CIRCUIT


Bridget Shelton Bade

Age: 53
Law School: Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Formerly: U.S. Magistrate Judge, District of Arizona
Confirmed: March 26, 2019
A magistrate judge for the last six years, she's presided over a variety of litigation, including a Labor Department suit over alleged overtime violations by a chain of Arizona restaurants. Bade would fill the open Ninth Circuit seat for Arizona.

Mark J. Bennett

Age: 64
Law School: Cornell Law School
Formerly: Director, Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher
Confirmed: July 10, 2018
Ninth Circuit Judge Mark Bennett rose to prominence as Hawaii's attorney general for eight years under Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, arguing twice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Bennett previously the director of Honolulu firm Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher, where his practice focused on complex civil litigation such as antitrust and securities matters. Bennett's nomination was unique in Trump's term; he received more opposition from Republicans than Democrats over briefs he wrote in Supreme Court cases on gun rights.

Daniel A. Bress

Age: 39
Law School: University of Virginia School of Law
Formerly: Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Confirmed: July 9, 2019
A new pick for the Ninth Circuit, President Donald Trump nominated Bress over the objections of California's home-state Senators, who have not been happy with any of the administration's choices for the vacant California seats on the high-profile appellate court. As a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis, he's been involved in cases involving alleged defects in talc powder, a False Claims Act suit the United States brought against Honeywell Corp. and more.

Patrick J. Bumatay

Age: 41
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of California
Confirmed: Dec. 10, 2019
This was the third time Trump tapped Bumatay, a DOJ veteran and an expert on the opioid crisis. His October 2018 nomination for the Ninth Circuit was derailed by opposition from California's two Democratic senators. Bumatay's candidacy for a district-court seat was pending when Trump once again picked him for the appeals court.

Daniel P. Collins

Age: 55
Law School: Stanford Law School
Formerly: Partner, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP
Confirmed: May 21, 2019
President Trump picked a fight with California's Democratic senators by nominating Collins and several other Ninth Circuit picks over their objections. A prominent litigator, Collins has represented companies like Royal Dutch Shell in its suits with various municipalities over the alleged costs of infrastructure damage from climate change.

Danielle J. Hunsaker

Law School: University of Idaho College of Law
Formerly: Presiding Judge, Washington County Circuit Court of Oregon
Confirmed: Nov. 6, 2019
Hunsaker was recommended by Oregon's judicial selection committee to replace Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, the Reagan appointee with whom she clerked. Senate leaders canceled a July 2018 vote on previous nominee Ryan Bounds, another former O'Scannlain clerk whose college writings on race cost him GOP votes.

Kenneth Kiyul Lee

Age: 43
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Partner, Jenner & Block LLP
Confirmed: May 15, 2019
President Trump picked a fight with California's Democratic senators by nominating Lee and several other Ninth Circuit picks over their objections. A former associate counsel to President George W. Bush, Lee has represented a diverse group of clients, including Kraft Foods, Smuckers and even Kanye West since going into private practice.

Eric Miller

Age: 44
Law School: University of Chicago Law School
Formerly: Partner, Perkins Coie LLP
Confirmed: Feb. 26, 2019
A longtime Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission attorney, Judge Miller joined Perkins Coie in 2012, where he represented major corporations like Amazon, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, major food companies and others. The Senate confirmed Judge Miller over the objections over both of Washington's Democratic Senators, the first time it had done so in Trump's term.

Ryan Nelson

Age: 44
Law School: Brigham Young University Law School
Formerly: General counsel, Melaleuca Inc.; partner, Sidley Austin LLP
Confirmed: Oct. 11, 2018
Trump's third confirmed pick for the influential Ninth Circuit was previously general counsel for Idaho-based household goods giant Melaleuca Inc. Trump first tapped Nelson for the Interior Department's top legal job. Nelson previously worked on Supreme Court nominations for former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and led the Environment and Natural Resources Division at President George W. Bush's DOJ.

Lawrence VanDyke

Age: 46
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division
Confirmed: Dec. 11, 2019
As a top DOJ lawyer, VanDyke defended the Trump administration's decisions to revoke Obama-era fracking regulations and allow Alaskan oil and gas exploration. He previously served as solicitor general for both Nevada and Montana. He led a coalition of states that won a nationwide injunction in 2016 against the Obama administration's controversial rule expanding overtime protections. He also represented Nevada in its fight against federal plans to preserve habitat for the greater sage-grouse. He previously worked at Gibson Dunn and Crutcher LLP.

TENTH CIRCUIT


Joel M. Carson III

Law School: University of New Mexico School of Law
Formerly: Principal, Carson Ryan LLC
Confirmed: May 15, 2018
As a partner with his Roswell-based firm, Carson represented energy companies in disputes with state and federal regulators and worked on legal issues for various industry associations and a conservative legal foundation. Carson also served as a part-time magistrate judge and on the New Mexico Supreme Court's Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission.

Allison Eid

Age: 51
Law School: University of Chicago Law School
Formerly: Justice, Colorado Supreme Court; Professor, University of C cago Law School
Confirmed: Nov. 2, 2017
The vacancy left by Neil Gorsuch's elevation to the Supreme Court was filled in November 2017 with the confirmation of Eid, a former justice on Colorado's top bench. Eid won a rare three Democratic votes for her approval, after many in the party looked suspiciously on her past writings, decisions and advocacy on federal power, gun rights and civil liability. She was among the first 11 judges on Trump's Supreme Court short list in May 2016.

ELEVENTH CIRCUIT


Elizabeth Branch

Age: 48
Law School: Emory University School of Law
Formerly: Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals; professor, University of Minnesota Law School
Confirmed: Feb. 27, 2018
Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Elizabeth "Lisa" Branch is Trump's second appointee to the Eleventh Circuit following her confirmation with bipartisan support in February. Active in the Federalist Society's Atlanta chapter and an alumna of the Bush Department of Homeland Security and Office of Management and Budget, Branch joins four other full-time female judges on the 12-member appeals court, replacing female U.S. Circuit Judge Frank M. Hull. Branch defended her originalist principles during a Dec. 13 confirmation hearing in the Judiciary Committee.

Andrew L. Brasher

Age: 38
Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: U.S. District Judge, Middle District of Alabama
Confirmed: Feb. 11, 2020
One of Trump's youngest appellate picks, Judge Brasher was tapped for a promotion just six months after a party-line Senate vote made him a U.S. district judge despite opposition from Alabama's Democratic senator, Doug Jones. He previously served five years as the state's solicitor general, defending laws including an overturned abortion restriction. He has practiced with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP and clerked with Eleventh Circuit Judge William H. Pryor Jr.

Britt C. Grant

Law School: Stanford Law School
Formerly: Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia
Confirmed: July 31, 2018
Grant won confirmation to the Eleventh Circuit over the objections of most Democrats. The previous year she had appeared on Trump's Supreme Court short list. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal appointed her in January 2017 to the state's Supreme Court; before that, she had served as the state's solicitor general since 2015. She was previously a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a law clerk to then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh and a staffer in the Bush White House.

Barbara Lagoa

Age: 51
Law School: Columbia University School of Law
Formerly: Justice, Florida Supreme Court
Confirmed: Nov. 20, 2019
The former Greenberg Traurig LLP commercial litigator got the nod a few months after becoming the first Cuban-American woman on the state's high court. She spent 13 years the state's Third District Court of Appeal and also previously worked as a federal prosecutor.

Robert J. Luck

Age: 40
Law School: University of Florida Levin College of Law
Formerly: Justice, Florida Supreme Court
Confirmed: Nov. 19, 2019
The former Greenberg Traurig LLP commercial litigator got the nod a few months after joining the state's high court. He previously spent two years on the state's Third District Court of Appeal and four years as a trial judge in Miami's 11th Judicial Circuit Court. Before working as a federal prosecutor, he clerked for Eleventh Circuit Judge Edward E. Carne.

Kevin Newsom

Law School: Harvard Law School
Formerly: Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
Confirmed: Aug. 1, 2017
Judge Newsom was approved with some Democratic support in a 66-31 vote. A Harvard Law grad who clerked for Justice David Souter, Newsom's path to the Eleventh Circuit included a stop at Covington & Burling LLP, a stint as Alabama's solicitor general and a decade in the Birmingham office of Bradley Arant, where he eventually led the firm's appellate practice. A few months after his confirmation he appeared on Trump's Supreme Court short list.


FAILED NOMINATIONS


Ninth Circuit, Ryan Bounds
In a dramatic last-minute reversal, Republican leaders scuttled a planned Senate vote on the federal prosecutor rather than have the nominee fail to win confirmation. Several GOP senators said they had concerns about his controversial college writings, especially on race. 

Fifth Circuit, Judge Halil S. Ozerden
The Mississippi federal judge ran into trouble with social conservatives who questioned his dismissal of a case challenging the Obama administration's rules on contraceptive coverage. With Democrats skeptical and just a narrow GOP margin on the Judiciary Committee, the candidacy languished until the White House announced a new pick in March 2020.

Western District of Michigan, Michael S. Bogren
Bogren withdrew from consideration in June 2019 after Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley accused him of anti-religious animus during his confirmation hearing. Bogren had defended a city that had blocked a couple from a municipal farmers market because they did not allow same-sex couples to rent their farm as a wedding venue. Bogren said he was a victim of "gross mischaracterizations" after social conservatives campaigned against his confirmation.

Eastern District of North Carolina, Thomas A. Farr
The Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC partner's long pursuit of a federal judgeship — which included two nominations under President George W. Bush — may have finally come to an end after Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., pulled his support in November 2018. Scott cited a DOJ memo detailing alleged violations of the Voting Rights Act by a congressional campaign that Farr had represented. A federal prosecutor turned law professor finally filled the 14-year vacancy in December 2019.

Eastern District of Wisconsin, Gordon Giampietro
The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. attorney reportedly lost the support of Wisconsin's Democratic senator, Tammy Baldwin, over unacknowledged blog posts and radio interviews about diversity, gay marriage and birth control. He was never formally withdrawn, but the president did not renominate him after the nomination expired in January 2019.

District of Alaska, Jon Katchen
Trump tapped the Holland & Hart LLP partner in April 2018. He had worked for Alaska GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan and clerked for the president's sister, then-Third Circuit Judge Maryanne Trump Barry. However, the Senate Judiciary Committee never scheduled a confirmation hearing. In August 2018, Katchen told Alaska Public Media he withdrew because of uncertainty about the process. In February 2020, the Senate confirmed another pick for the seat: Joshua M. Kindred, a veteran of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association and the Anchorage District Attorney's Office.

Northern District of New York, Judge Thomas Marcelle
The White House withdrew the Cohoes City Court judge's nomination in September 2019. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., reportedly blocked consideration because of concerns over his views on abortion.

Eastern District of Texas, Jeffrey C. Mateer
Mateer's nomination prospects collapsed after a video emerged of him delivering a lecture titled "The Church and Homosexuality" to a group of pastors, in which he said a transgender child plays a role in "Satan's plan."

John M. O'Connor, Northern, Eastern and Western Districts of Oklahoma
The Hall Estill shareholder withdrew after a scathing ABA review said peers questioned his integrity, including "evidence of overbilling" and "an improper ex parte communication with a court." The president later tapped a younger member of the same firm, John F. Heil.

District of Columbia, Matthew S. Petersen
Federal Election Commissioner Matthew Petersen blew his chances at a federal judgeship during his Senate confirmation hearing in mid-December, when he was unable to define basic trial terms like a "motion in limine."

District of New Mexico, Judge Kevin R. Sweazea
The federal magistrate judge withdrew from consideration in October 2019. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., told Law360 there were "vetting issues." A local paper reported that Judge Sweazea had signed a marriage license for a pregnant 15-year-old girl and a 29-year-old police officer whose father was a judge.

Middle District of Alabama, Brett J. Talley
Brett Talley's nomination sank following reports of thousands of anonymous online postings he authored, including one in which he appeared to defend the legacy of the early Ku Klux Klan, as well as his omission of his marriage to a White House lawyer in his Senate questionnaire. He received a "not qualified" rating from the ABA and acknowledged that he had never tried a case.



DISTRICT COURT NOMINEES
Middle District of Alabama Status
Edmund G. LaCour Jr.
Solicitor general of Alabama

Nominated
May 20, 2020

Andrew Brasher
Solicitor general of Alabama

Confirmed
May 1, 2019

R. Austin Huffaker Jr.
Shareholder, Rushton Stakely Johnston & Garrett PA

Confirmed
Dec. 4
, 2019

Emily C. Marks
Partner, Ball Ball Matthews & Novak PA
Confirmed
Aug. 1, 2018

Brett J. Talley
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Policy

Expired
Jan. 3, 2018

Northern District of Alabama Status
Annemarie Axon
Member, Wallace Jordan Ratliff & Brandt LLC
Confirmed
June 6, 2018
Liles Burke
Judge, Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
Corey L. Maze
Special deputy Alabama attorney general

Confirmed
June 12, 2019

Anna M. Manasco
Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Confirmed
May 20, 2020

Southern District of Alabama Status
Jeff Beaverstock
Partner, Burr & Forman LLP
Confirmed
Aug. 1, 2018

Terry F. Moorer
U.S. magistrate judge, Middle District of Alabama

Confirmed
Aug. 28, 2018

District of Alaska Status
Joshua M. Kindred
Regional solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior
Confirmed
Feb. 12, 2020

Jon Katchen
Partner, Holland & Hart LLP
Expired
Jan. 3, 2019

District of Arizona Status
Susan Brnovich
Trial court judge, Maricopa County Superior Court

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
John C. Hinderaker
Trial court judge, Pima County Superior Court

Confirmed
Sept. 23, 2020

Dominic W. Lanza
Chief assistant U.S. attorney, District of Arizona

Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018
Michael Liburdi
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP

Confirmed
July 30, 2019
Scott H. Rash
Judge, Arizona Superior Court

Confirmed
May 19, 2020

Eastern District of Arkansas Status
Lee Philip Rudofsky
Senior director for global anti-corruption compliance, Walmart Inc.

Confirmed
Nov. 7, 2019

Central District of California Status
Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha
Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court
Confirmed
Dec. 20, 2020

Stanley Blumenfeld
Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court

Confirmed
Sept. 15, 2020

John W. Holcomb
Partner, Greenberg Gross LLP

Confirmed
Sept. 15, 2020

Steve Kim
U.S. magistrate judge, Central District of California

Nominated
Sept. 20. 2019
Sandy Nunes Leal
Judge, Orange County Superior Court
Nominated
Aug. 28, 2019
Rick Richmond
Partner, Jenner & Block
Nominated
Aug. 28, 2019
Jeremy B. Rosen
Partner, Horvitz & Levy LLP

Nominated
Oct. 10, 2018
Mark C. Scarsi
Partner, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy LLP
Confirmed
Sept. 15, 2020

Eastern District of California Status
James P. Arguelles
Judge, Sacramento County Superior Court
Nominated
June 8, 2020
Dirk B. Paloutzian
Shareholder, Baker Manock & Jensen PC
Nominated
April 29, 2020
Southern District of California Status
Adam L. Braverman
Associate deputy U.S. attorney general

Nominated
Aug. 28, 2019
Shireen Matthews
Partner, Jones Day
Nominated
Aug. 28, 2019
Knut S. Johnson
Law Office of Knut S. Johnson
Nominated
Sept. 20, 2019
Michelle M. Pettit
Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of California

Nominated
Sept. 20, 2019
Todd W. Robinson
Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of California

Confirmed
Sept. 16, 2020

District of Colorado Status
Daniel D. Domenico
Managing partner, Kittredge LLC
Confirmed
April 9, 2019

District of Connecticut Status
Kari A. Dooley
Judge, Connecticut Superior Court

Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018
Barbara Bailey Jongbloed
Judge, New London Superior Court

Nominated
Aug. 28, 2019
District of Delaware Status
Colm F. Connolly
Partner, Morgan Lewis Bockius LLP
Confirmed
Aug. 1, 2018

Maryellen Noreika
Partner, Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell LLP
Confirmed
Aug. 1, 2018

District of Columbia Status
Dabney Friedrich
Former member, U.S. Sentencing Commission

Confirmed
Nov. 27, 2017
Timothy Kelly
Chief counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee

Confirmed
Sept. 8, 2017
Trevor McFadden
Deputy assistant U.S. attorney general, DOJ Criminal Division

Confirmed
Oct. 30, 2017
Carl J. Nichols
Partner, WilmerHale

Confirmed
May 22, 2018

Middle District of Florida Status
Kathryn Kimball Mizelle
Associate, Jones Day

Confirmed
Nov. 18, 2020

John L. Badalamenti
Judge, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal

Confirmed
June 1, 2020

Thomas P. Barber
Judge, Florida's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit

Confirmed
June 12, 2019

Wendy Williams Berger
Judge, Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal

Confirmed
July 24, 2019
William F. Jung
Partner, Jung & Sisco PA
Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018
Northern District of Florida Status
T. Kent Wetherell II
Judge, Florida's First District Court of Appeal

Confirmed
July 10, 2019
Allen Winsor
Judge, Florida's First District Court of Appeal

Confirmed
June 19, 2019
Southern District of Florida Status
Roy K. Altman
Partner, Podhurst Orseck P.A.
Confirmed
April 4, 2019
Rodolfo "Rudy" Ruiz II
Judge, Florida's Eleventh Judicial Circuit

Confirmed
May 2, 2019
Anuraag "Raag" Singhal
Judge, Florida's Seventeenth Judicial Circuit

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Rodney Smith
Judge, Florida's Eleventh Judicial Circuit

Confirmed
June 12, 2019

Aileen M. Cannon
Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of Florida

Confirmed
Nov. 12, 2020

Middle District of Georgia Status
Tilman Eugene Self III
Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals

Confirmed
March 5, 2018
Northern District of Georgia Status
Michael Lawrence Brown
Partner, Alston & Bird LLP

Confirmed
Jan. 11, 2018
J.P. Boulee
Judge, Dekalb County Superior Court

Confirmed
June 12, 2019

Steven D. Grimberg
General counsel, Nardello & Co.

Confirmed
Sept. 11, 2019

William Ray II
Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018

Southern District of Georgia Status
R. Stan Baker
U.S. magistrate judge, Southern District of Georgia

Confirmed
Aug. 28, 2018
District of Guam (an Article IV territorial court)
Status
Maria Teresa B. Cenzon
Judge, Superior Court of Guam

Nominated
Nov. 13, 2020

District of Hawaii Status
Jill A. Otake
Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Hawaii

Confirmed
Aug. 1, 2018

District of Idaho Status
David Nye
Judge, Sixth District of Idaho
Confirmed
July 12, 2017
Northern District of Illinois Status
Franklin U. Valderrama
Associate judge, Circuit Court of Cook County

Confirmed
Sept. 17, 2020

Iain D. Johnston
U.S. magistrate judge, Northern District of Illinois

Confirmed
Sept. 17, 2020

John F. Kness
General counsel, College of DuPage

Confirmed
Feb. 12, 2020

Martha M. Pacold
Deputy general counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Confirmed
July 31, 2019
Mary M. Rowland
U.S. magistrate judge, Northern District of Illinois

Confirmed
July 31, 2019
Steven C. Seeger
Senior trial counsel, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Confirmed
Sept. 11, 2019

Southern District of Illinois Status
David W. Dugan
Judge, Illinois' Third Judicial Circuit Court
Confirmed
Sept. 16, 2020

Stephen P. McGlynn
Judge, Illinois' Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court
Confirmed
Sept. 16, 2020

Northern District of Indiana Status
Holly A. Brady
Partner, Haller & Colvin PC
Confirmed
April 10, 2019
Damon R. Leichty
Partner, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Confirmed
July 10, 2019
Southern District of Indiana Status
James R. Sweeney II
Partner, Barnes & Thornburg
Confirmed
Aug. 28, 2018
J.P. Hanlon
Partner, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
Northern District of Iowa Status
C.J. Williams
Chief magistrate judge, Northern District of Iowa

Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018
District of Kansas Status
Holly L. Teeter
Assistant U.S. attorney, Western District of Missouri

Confirmed
Aug. 1, 2018

John W. Broomes
Attorney, Hinkle Law Firm LLC
Confirmed
April 12, 2018
Toby Crouse
Kansas solicitor general
Confirmed
Nov. 17, 2020

Eastern District of Kentucky Status
Robert E. Wier
U.S. magistrate judge, Eastern District of Kentucky

Confirmed
June 5, 2018
Western District of Kentucky Status
Benjamin J. Beaton
Partner, Squire Patton Boggs LLP

Confirmed
Nov. 17, 2020

Justin R. Walker
Assistant professor, University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law

Confirmed
Oct. 24, 2019

Rebecca G. Jennings
Director, Middleton Reutlinger
Confirmed
April 12, 2018

Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky Status
Claria Horn Boom
Partner, Frost Brown Todd LLC

Confirmed
April 10, 2018
Eastern District of Louisiana Status
Barry W. Ashe
Partner, Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann
Confirmed
Aug. 28, 2018
Greg G. Guidry
Justice, Louisiana Supreme Court

Confirmed
June 19, 2019
Wendy B. Vitter
General counsel, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans

Confirmed
May 16, 2019
Western District of Louisiana Status
James D. Cain, Jr.
Founding partner, Loftin Cain & LeBlanc LLC

Confirmed
June 19, 2019
Terry Doughty
Judge, Fifth Judicial District of Louisiana
Confirmed
March 6, 2018
David C. Joseph
U.S. attorney, Western District of Louisiana

Confirmed
July 28, 2020

Michael J. Juneau
Partner, Juneau David APLC

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
Robert R. Summerhays
U.S. bankruptcy judge, Western District of Louisiana

Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018

District of Maine Status
Lance Walker
Justice, Maine Supreme Court

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
District of Maryland Status
Stephanie A. Gallagher
U.S. magistrate judge, District of Maryland

Confirmed
Sept. 11, 2019

Eastern District of Michigan Status
Stephanie Dawkins Davis
U.S. magistrate judge, Eastern District of Michigan

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Western District of Michigan Status
Hala Y. Jarbou
Judge, Oakland County Circuit Court

Confirmed
Sept. 10, 2020

Michael S. Bogren
Managing partner, Plunkett Cooney PC

Withdrawn
June 26, 2019

District of Minnesota Status
Nancy E. Brasel
Judge, Minnesota State District Court
Confirmed
Aug. 28, 2018
Eric C. Tostrud
Of counsel, Lockridge Grindal Nauen

Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018
Southern District of Mississippi Status
Taylor B. McNeel
Partner, Brunini Grantham Grower & Hewes PLLC
Confirmed
Dec. 1, 2020

Kristi H. Johnson
Mississippi solicitor general

Confirmed
Nov. 17, 2020

Eastern District of Missouri
Status
Stephen R. Clark
Founder, Runnymede Law Group
Confirmed
May 22, 2019

Sarah E. Pitlyk
Special counsel, Thomas More Society
Confirmed
Dec. 4
, 2019

Matthew T. Schelp
Partner, Husch Blackwell
Confirmed
Feb. 12, 2020

District of Nebraska Status
Brian C. Buescher
Partner, Kutak Rock LLP
Confirmed
July 24, 2019
District of Nevada Status
Jennifer P. Togliatti
Senior judge, Nevada's Eighth Judicial District Court

Nominated
Oct. 16, 2019
District of New Mexico Status
Fred J. Federici III
First assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Mexico

Nominated
May 28, 2020

Brenda M. Saiz
Director, Rodey Dickason Sloan Akin & Robb PA

Nominated
May 28, 2020

Kea W. Riggs
Judge, New Mexico Fifth Judicial Circuit

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019

Kevin R. Sweazea
U.S. magistrate judge, District of New Mexico

Withdrawn
October 2019
Eastern District of New York
Status
David C. Woll Jr.
Principal deputy assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Nominated
Aug. 12, 2020

Hector Gonzalez
Partner, Dechert LLP

Nominated
Aug. 12, 2020

Saritha Komatireddy
Deputy chief of general crimes, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York

Nominated
Feb. 12, 2020

Gary R. Brown
U.S. magistrate judge, Eastern District of New York
Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019

Diane Gujarati
Deputy chief of the Criminal Division, Southern District of New York

Confirmed
Sept. 10, 2020

Eric R. Komitee
General counsel, Viking Global Investors LP

Confirmed
Dec. 3, 2019

Rachel P. Kovner
Assistant to the U.S. solicitor general

Confirmed
Oct. 16, 2019

Northern District of New York Status
Ryan T. McAllister
Counsel, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Nominated
Aug. 12, 2020

Thomas Marcelle
Judge, Cohoes City Court
Withdrawn
Sept. 19, 2019

Southern District of New York Status
Jennifer H. Rearden
Partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Nominated
Feb. 20, 2020
John P. Cronan
Deputy assistant U.S. attorney general

Confirmed
Aug. 6, 2016

Philip M. Halpern
Managing partner, Collier, Halpern, Newberg & Nolletti LLP
Confirmed
Feb. 12, 2020

Iris Lan
Associate deputy U.S. attorney general

Nominated
Nov. 6, 2019

Lewis J. Liman
Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Mary K. Vyskocil
U.S. bankruptcy judge, Southern District of New York

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Western District of New York Status
John L. Sinatra Jr.
Partner, Hodgson Russ LLP

Confirmed
Dec. 4
, 2019

Eastern District of North Carolina Status
Richard E. Myers II
Professor, University of North Carolina School of Law

Confirmed
Dec. 5, 2019

Western District of North Carolina Status
Kenneth D. Bell
Partner, McGuire Woods LLP
Confirmed
May 22, 2019

District of North Dakota Status
Daniel Mack Traynor
Shareholder, Traynor Law Firm
Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Peter Welte
Shareholder, Vogel Law Firm
Confirmed
July 30, 2019
Northern District of Ohio Status
James R. Knepp II
U.S. magistrate judge, Northern District of Ohio

Confirmed
Nov. 10, 2020

J. Philip Calabrese
Judge, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas

Confirmed
Dec. 1, 2020

Pamela A. Barker
Judge, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas

Confirmed
June 12, 2019

Southern District of Ohio Status
Michael J. Newman
U.s. magistrate judge, Southern District of Ohio
Confirmed
Oct. 22, 2020

Douglas R. Cole
Partner, Organ Cole LLP
Confirmed
Dec. 3, 2019

Matthew W. McFarland
Judge, Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals
Confirmed
Dec. 18, 2019

Sarah Daggett Morrison
CEO, Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation

Confirmed
June 11, 2019
Northern, Eastern and Western Districts of Oklahoma
Status
John F. Heil III
Shareholder, Hall Estill

Confirmed
May 20, 2020

John M. O'Connor
Shareholder, Hall Estill

Withdrawn
March 14, 2019

Western District of Oklahoma
Status
Bernard M. Jones
U.S. magistrate judge, Western District of Oklahoma

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Jodi W. Dishman
Shareholder, McAfee & Taft

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Scott L. Palk
Assistant dean, University of Oklahoma College of Law

Confirmed
Oct. 26, 2017
Patrick Wyrick
Justice, Oklahoma Supreme Court

Confirmed
April 9, 2019
Charles Goodwin
U.S. magistrate judge, Western District of Oklahoma

Confirmed
Aug. 28, 2018
District of Oregon Status
Karin J. Immergut
Judge, Multnomah County Circuit Court

Confirmed
July 31, 2019
Eastern District of Pennsylvania Status
John M. Gallagher
Assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Chad F. Kenney
Judge, Delaware County Court of Common Pleas
Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
Karen S. Marston
Assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Joshua D. Wolson
Partner, Dilworth Paxson LLP

Confirmed
May 2, 2019

John Milton Younge
Judge, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas

Confirmed
July 31, 2019
Middle District of Pennsylvania Status
Jennifer P. Wilson
Partner, Philpott Wilson

Confirmed
Nov. 7, 2019

Western District of Pennsylvania Status
Christy Criswell Wiegand
Assistant U.S. attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania
Confirmed
Sept. 9, 2020
Susan Paradise Baxter
U.S. magistrate judge, Western District of Pennsylvania

Confirmed
Aug. 28, 2018
Robert J. Colville
Judge, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas
Confirmed
Dec. 19, 2019
Stephanie L. Haines
Assistant U.S. attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania

Confirmed
Sept. 11, 2019

William Scott Hardy
Shareholder, Ogletree Deakins

Confirmed
July 27, 2020

Marilyn Jean Horan
Judge, Butler County Court of Common Pleas
Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018
Peter J. Phipps
U.S. magistrate judge, Western District of Pennsylvania

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
J. Nicholas Ranjan
Partner, K&L Gates LLP
Confirmed
July 10, 2019
William S. Stickman
Partner, Del Sole Cavanaugh Stroyd LLC

Confirmed
July 31, 2019
District of Puerto Rico Status
Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach
Partner, McConnell Valdés LLC

Confirmed
May 2, 2019
Silvia Carreño-Coll
U.S. magistrate judge, District of Puerto Rico

Confirmed
Feb. 25, 2020

District of Rhode Island Status
Mary McElroy
Public defender, state of Rhode Island

Confirmed
Sept. 11, 2019

District of South Carolina Status
Joseph Dawson III
County attorney, Charleston County

Confirmed
Dec. 16, 2020

Sherri A. Lydon
U.S. attorney, District of South Carolina

Confirmed
Dec. 5, 2019

Donald C. Coggins Jr.
Partner, Harrison White Smith & Coggins PC

Confirmed
Nov. 16, 2017
A. Marvin Quattlebaum
Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018

Eastern District of Tennessee Status
Katherine A. Crytzer
Principal deputy assistant U.S. attorney general

Confirmed
Dec. 16, 2020

Charles E. Atchley Jr.
First assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of Tennessee

Confirmed
Dec. 17, 2020

Clifton L. Corker
U.S. magistrate judge, Eastern District of Tennessee

Confirmed
July 18, 2019

Middle District of Tennessee Status
William Campbell Jr.
Member, Frost Brown Todd LLC

Confirmed
Jan. 9, 2018
Eli Richardson
Member, Bass Berry & Sims PLC
Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
Western District of Tennessee Status
Mark Norris Sr.
Special counsel, Adams and Reese LLP

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
Thomas Parker
Shareholder, Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
Confirmed
Jan. 10, 2018
Eastern District of Texas Status
J. Campbell Barker
Deputy Texas solicitor general

Confirmed
May 1, 2019

Sean D. Jordan
Partner, Jackson Walker LLP
Confirmed
July 30, 2019

Jeremy D. Kernodle
Partner, Haynes and Boone LLP

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018
Michael J. Truncale
Partner, Orgain Bell & Tucker LLP
Confirmed
May 14, 2019

Northern District of Texas Status
Ada E. Brown
Justice, Texas' Fifth Court of Appeals

Confirmed
Sept. 11,
2019

James Wesley Hendrix
Assistant U.S. attorney, Northern District of Texas

Confirmed
July 30, 2019
Matthew Kacsmaryk
Deputy general counsel, First Liberty Institute

Confirmed
June 19, 2019
Mark Pittman
Justice, Texas' Second Court of Appeals

Confirmed
July 31, 2019
Karen Scholer
Partner, Carter Scholer PLLC
Confirmed
March 5, 2018
Brantley Starr
Deputy first assistant Texas attorney general

Confirmed
July 31, 2019

Southern District of Texas Status
Drew B. Tipton
Partner, BakerHostetler
Confirmed
June 3, 2020
Jeffrey V. Brown
Justice, Texas Supreme Court
Confirmed
July 31, 2019
Charles R. Eskridge
Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP
Confirmed
Oct. 16, 2019

Fernando Rodriguez Jr.
Attorney, International Justice Mission
Confirmed
June 5, 2018
David Morales
Partner, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP

Confirmed
April 10, 2019
Western District of Texas Status
Alan D. Albright
Partner, Bracewell LLP
Confirmed
Sept. 6, 2018
Walter David Counts III
U.S. magistrate judge, Western District of Texas

Confirmed
Jan. 11, 2018
Jason K. Pulliam
Of counsel, Prichard Young LLP

Confirmed
July 31, 2019
District of Utah Status
David B. Barlow
Partner, Dorsey & Whitney LLP; U.S. Attorney for Utah

Confirmed
Dec. 3, 2019

Howard C. Nielson
Partner, Cooper & Kirk
Confirmed
May 22, 2019

District of the Virgin Islands (an Article IV territorial court)
Status
Robert A. Molloy
Judge, Superior Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands

Confirmed
Feb. 25, 2019

Eastern District of Virginia Status
Rossie Alston Jr.
Judge, Virginia Court of Appeals

Confirmed
June 10, 2019
David J. Novak
U.S. magistrate judge, Eastern District of Virginia

Confirmed
Oct. 16, 2019

Roderick C. Young
U.S. magistrate judge, Eastern District of Virginia

Confirmed
Sept. 24, 2020

Western District of Virginia Status
Thomas T. Cullen
U.S. attorney, Western District of Virginia

Confirmed
Sept. 10, 2020
Southern District of West Virginia Status
Frank W. Volk
Chief judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia

Confirmed
Oct. 16, 2019
Eastern District of Wisconsin Status
Brett H. Ludwig
U.S. bankruptcy judge, Eastern District of Wisconsin

Confirmed
Sept. 9, 2020
Gordon Giampietro
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. attorney

Expired
Jan. 4, 2019
Northern District of West Virginia Status
Thomas S. Kleeh
Partner, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Confirmed
Oct. 11, 2018

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