OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:42 AM PT — Thursday, January 17, 2019
Although the government remains partially shutdown, President Trump has unveiled his first set of judicial nominees for the year. In a press release on Wednesday, the White House announced six district court nominees that, if confirmed, would fill federal vacancies in Louisiana, Texas, North Dakota, and Arizona.
This first wave of nominees consists of three district court judges in the state of Texas, specifically Mark Pittman, who serves on the court of appeals in Texas Second District. By recommendation of Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Senator John Cornyn, President Trump also nominated Wes Hendrix and Sean Jordan.
The remaining nominees include Greg Guidry of Louisiana, Michael Liburdi of Arizona, and Peter Welte of North Dakota — all of whom have conservative leanings on the bench.
President Donald Trump is pictured. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
The Senate Judiciary Committee must now approve these nominees before they go for a full vote in the Senate.
In his first two-years, President Trump saw a record number of his federal appeals court nominees confirmed before roughly 90 of those nominees expired at the start of the new Congress. However, they still have a chance of sitting on the federal bench as Republican senators have allowed the president to re-nominate them later this year.
