Senate panel advances Trump judicial picks

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Friday, June 27, 2025

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The U.S. Supreme Court will issue its final rulings of its current term tomorrow, Chief Justice John Roberts said. It has yet to resolve several important cases. Read about them here.
Today, the high court cleared the way for South Carolina to strip Planned Parenthood of funding under the Medicaid health insurance program.
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The DOJ will investigate hiring practices at the University of California system.

US Senate panel advances Trump's first five judicial nominees

Whitney D. Hermandorfer testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination to serve on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance President Trump's first five judicial nominees of his second term at a meeting that was previewed in this morning's Daily Docket.

The Republican-led panel voted 12-10 in favor of sending Whitney Hermandorfer's nomination to the full Senate for it to consider whether to confirm her to a life-tenured position on the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit. Hermandorfer is a former clerk to three members of the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority.

The panel also advanced the nominations of four candidates to serve as federal trial court judges in Missouri's Eastern District over the opposition of Democrats who assailed some of the nominees' records on abortion and LGBTQ rights.

They are the first of the 12 judicial nominees the president has announced to date to clear the committee. The votes set the stage for the Senate to confirm them and add to the 234 judicial appointments Trump made in his first term. Read more from Nate Raymond.

More top news

In 9th Circuit fight over import duty fraud, False Claims Act gets new life

New tariffs have dominated headlines in recent months, but one question has received far less attention: How does the U.S. government make sure importers pay the duties that they owe? One answer is the threat of liability for customs fraud under the False Claims Act. For the past 20 years, however, the ability of whistleblowers to bring such cases has been under a cloud in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This week, the court issued a decision that offers new clarity, Jenna Greene writes in On the Case.

In other news ...

Facing global headwinds, Chinese automakers make a play for Africa … Iran turns to internal crackdown in wake of 12-day war … Greece battled a wildfire in a coastal town near Athens … Kenya's Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen accused protesters of a coup attempt after deadly demonstrations … Indian investigators downloaded black box data from fatal Air India crash.

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Sara Merken

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@saramerken

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