By Nate Raymond and Christian Martinez
(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was nominating Maine attorney Joshua Dunlap for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, a federal court currently dominated by Democrat-appointed judges.
“Joshua is a seasoned litigator, with a TON of excellent experience, appearing before the First Circuit, and all levels of the Federal and State Judiciary,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The nomination to the lifetime position brings the number of judicial nominees announced by Trump in his second term to 13 and is the third to a federal appeals court.
Dunlap is being nominated to fill the lone vacancy on the Boston-based court, which currently is the only of the 13 appeals courts with no active judges appointed by Republican presidents.
Former President Joe Biden had sought to fill the vacancy and solidify a six-judge court with only Democratic-appointed judges, but his nominee, Julia Lipez, stalled in the Senate and was not confirmed as part of a deal between Senate Democrats and Republicans.
The New England trial courts that sit below the First Circuit have become a popular venue for litigants seeking to challenge Trump’s agenda.
The liberal-leaning appeals court has in several rulings declined to halt injunctions judges have issued, only to have the 6-3 conservative majority Supreme Court opt to do so.
Dunlap is a partner at Pierce Atwood LLP in Portland, Maine, and a co-chair of the appellate and amici team, according to the firm’s website. He obtained his law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2008.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond and Christian Martinez; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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