Eighth Circuit Judge Bobby Shepherd will retire from active service and hand Trump his first chance to fill out a federal appeals bench with a majority of his appointees. Shepherd said he’d take senior status in a Monday letter to the White House seen by BLaw. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump’s first judicial nominees backed by their home-state Democratic senators advanced today in the Senate Judiciary Committee with support from other Democrats--despite progressives urging them to reject the president’s picks across the board. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The need for Kennedy’s support is one likely reason the White House went with St. John, @oliviaalafriz.bsky.social reports. Another reason: the limited time to confirm nominees due to summer breaks and midterm campaigning. St. John, just went through the process and has her paperwork in order.

President Donald Trump announced he plans to nominate Anna St. John to a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A federal judge who was reprimanded for misconduct recused herself from hearing the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking Georgia voter rolls.

Recent public instances of bad behavior by judges are raising questions about their conduct off the bench, and whether the current system for policing misconduct can properly address those issues.

ICYMI: The Senate voted 48-43 last night to confirm Justin Smith, one of President Donald Trump’s former personal attorneys, to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Congressional Democrats are largely staying silent as Republicans seek the ouster of a Georgia federal judge who a judicial panel found had sex in chambers within earshot of clerks. "It doesn't ring a bell," Sen. Whitehouse told @marenfagan.bsky.social today. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

This from my colleague Angelica Serrano-Roman is one of the craziest and most distressing stories I've read in a long time. news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-l...

Court nominees appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today gave a new answer to inquiries about who won the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost, a question that progressives view as a litmus test on judicial independence. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Senate just confirmed Trump’s last pending pick for Kansas’ federal trial court bench, meaning the court will now be made up entirely of Trump nominees. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Sen. Kennedy pressed a Trump appeals court nominee over his decision to sign a letter pledging not to hire law clerks from Columbia University over its handling of Israel-Hamas war protests. “I hope you won’t do something like that again,” he said. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Sen. Cornyn today spoke out against attacks on the judiciary, singling out those who call for or seek to impeach judges over rulings they disagree with. His sharper tone on judicial independence follows his defeat last month in Texas' GOP Senate primary. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Michigan’s Democratic US senators gave President Donald Trump his first blue-state backing for a judicial nominee in his second term, a move likely to inflame progressives.

News -- President Trump will get a chance to appoint another member of the Fifth Circuit, as Judge Kurt Engelhardt, a Trump appointee, is set to take senior status news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Michigan’s Democratic US senators will let Mike Martin, Trump’s pick for a federal trial court judgeship, move forward. Slotkin and Peters are the first blue-state senators to green-light Trump's judicial nominees in his second term. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

New: The Ninth Circuit's chief judge announced a misconduct review into Judge Ryan Nelson, following reports of his misdemeanors charges of battery and malicious injury to property. All of that information "was only very recently received," per the order. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) returned a blue slip for President Donald Trump’s pick for a Philadelphia-based federal trial court, becoming the first Democratic senator to do so on one of his second term judicial nominees.

Rep. Andrew Clyde becomes the first lawmaker to announce steps toward impeaching Judge Ross. Also new: Sen. Blackburn calls for Ross' removal. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

At least two Republicans have raised doubts about acting AG Todd Blanche’s confirmation prospects after Trump announced plans to make him “permanent attorney general,” though he’s notching support among other GOP members. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) says his staff has “already put together a memo” on the facts involved in the misconduct findings against Judge Eleanor Ross and "everything’s on the table,” reports @suzannemonyak.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

I went long on a new form of Trump DOJ turmoil: Top Las Vegas prosecutor Sigal Chattah repeatedly bypassed Main Justice recusal orders, pushed cases for ex-clients & friends, targeted political foe, & much more. "It's charitable to call it chaos." news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Senate just confirmed Katie Lane, the first judicial nominee to receive an “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association in President Donald Trump’s second term, to the US District Court for the District of Montana. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Eleanor Ross is the federal district court judge who was subject to a private reprimand for having sex with a police officer in chambers in earshot of law clerks, according to a person familiar with the situation.

News: The judge reprimanded by the judiciary for having sex in chambers, in earshot of law clerks, is Judge Eleanor Ross of the Atlanta-based Northern District of Georgia, @bloomberglaw.com has confirmed. w/ @oliviaalafriz.bsky.social & @jacqthomsen.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The judiciary’s private reprimand of a federal judge for having sex at the workplace and lying about it is raising questions about that penalty’s effectiveness.

NEW: Trump said today he plans to nominate an Ohio state judge recommended by VP (and former Ohio senator) JD Vance to a federal trial court seat in the state. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A federal district judge engaged in an extramarital affair with a law enforcement officer in chambers, and in earshot of law clerks, a judicial conduct committee found, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social and @jacqthomsen.bsky.social report news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A federal district judge engaged in an extramarital affair with a law enforcement officer in chambers, and in earshot of law clerks, a judicial conduct committee found.

Updated with more details: All six former clerks who were interviewed described seeing the officer visit chambers, and two clerks reported hearing either “kissing sounds,” “moaning” or both from the judge’s office, while a third recounted hearing music playing during a visit, the report said.

A spate of judicial vacancies gives President Donald Trump a handful of new seats to try to fill as the window for Senate confirmations narrows before midterm elections. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

New: A group of conservatives earlier this month pushed Texas's senators to make a pair of lawyers the nominees for two federal judgeships in Dallas. One has since been nominated, another -- a former Cruz staffer -- hasn't. From me and @oliviaalafriz.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

NEW: Donald Trump’s judicial nominees took a new tack in answering Democrats’ questions on the outcome of the 2020 election, drawing on Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s response to a similar query during her own confirmation vetting. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

NEW: A contingent of Democrats joined Republicans to confirm a former House lawyer and federal prosecutor nominated by President Donald Trump to the South Carolina federal bench. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Senate Judiciary Committee this morning advanced a federal appeals court nominee who has represented Donald Trump in a defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

ICYMI (tl;dr: judges have about 3 weeks left to announce retirements if they want Trump to appoint replacements before the midterms)

ICYMI: Trump last night announced his picks for vacancies on the 8th and 10th Circuit, as well as district court seats in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/... @jacqthomsen.bsky.social @suzannemonyak.bsky.social

A DC Circuit panel appeared likely to uphold a lower court order temporarily barring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from penalizing Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) over remarks telling service members they may disobey unlawful orders. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Acknowledging that it wasn’t his best time, Justice Brett Kavanaugh told Fawn Johnson of @bloomberglaw.com: “I didn’t train as much. It turns out training makes a difference.” Other judges included DC Circuit's Florence Pan (25:39), Patricia Millett (36:58) news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Senate Judiciary Committee earlier today advanced a trial court nominee who was rated "not qualified" by the ABA over her limited legal experience. Katie Lane, an RNC lawyer, was the first nominee in Trump's second term to receive that rating. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a nominee who’s the second judge from a Florida state appeals court tapped for the federal bench after ruling for Trump in a defamation case last year. Jeff Kuntz is set to appear before the panel later today. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan said he is “sure” the US Supreme Court will take up the opinion he wrote this week allowing Texas to enforce a law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms, @oliviaalafriz.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

NEW: 5th Cir. Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan said he is “sure” the US Supreme Court will take up the opinion he wrote this week allowing Texas to enforce a law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...