Meet President Trump's first nominees to the lower federal courts
President Donald Trump
Updated: President Donald Trump nominated 10 lawyers Monday for federal judgeships, including two state judges from his list of 21 potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday afternon that the nominees were “chosen for their deep knowledge of the law,” the Hill reported.
A senior White House official told the New York Times the nominees will be the first of several, set to be made almost monthly. The National Law Journal (sub. req.) noted the story and included additional information about the nominees.
The two judges from the Supreme Court list are Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen, nominated to the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Justice David Stras of the Minnesota Supreme Court, nominated to the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Larsen is a former University of Michigan law professor and a former law clerk to late Justice Antonin Scalia. Stras is a former University of Minnesota law professor and a former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas.
The nomination of another judge from the Supreme Court list, U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar of Kentucky, is pending. He has been nominated to the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His is the only other nomination to the lower federal courts so far.
Other nominees are:
• Amy Coney Barrett, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, nominated to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Barrett is a former Scalia law clerk.
• John Bush, a Louisville, Kentucky-based lawyer, nominated to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Bush is a co-chair of the litigation department at Bingham Greenebaum Doll.
• Kevin Newsom, a Birmingham, Alabama-based lawyer, nominated to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Newsom is a former Alabama solicitor general and former clerk to Justice Scalia. He is a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings.
• Dabney Friedrich, nominated to the federal court in Washington, D.C. Friedrich is a former member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
• U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry Moorer, nominated to the federal court in the Middle District of Alabama.
• David Nye, an Idaho state judge, nominated to the federal court in Idaho. Nye had been nominated by President Barack Obama but didn’t receive a vote in the full Senate.
•Scott Palk, an assistant law dean at the University of Oklahoma, nominated to the federal court in the Western District of Oklahoma.
• Damien Schiff, a lawyer with the Pacific Legal Foundation, nominated to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Updated at 4:05 p.m. to note that the nominations were announced. Updated on May 12 to correct law firm name.
