Trump withdraws Rudofsky's Eighth Circuit nomination and nominates Arkansas justice Cody Hiland instead
The White House said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump had withdrawn US District Judge Lee Rudofsky's nomination to the St Louis-based Eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals and instead nominated Arkansas Supreme Court Justice J. Cody Hiland for the seat. Rudofsky's prospects had dimmed after reports that Arkansas's two Republican senators, John Boozman and Tom Cotton, favoured someone else; Rudofsky said that without his home-state senators' support, 'confirmation is simply not a practical possibility in today's Senate'. The switch comes as the White House races to confirm judges before Democrats take control of the Senate in January.
Key points
- Withdrawn: Judge Lee Rudofsky's Eighth Circuit nomination. Nominated instead: Arkansas Supreme Court Justice J. Cody Hiland.
- Reports say Arkansas senators Boozman and Cotton favoured someone else; Rudofsky conceded he had no practical path without them.
- The seat is Judge Bobby Shepherd's; the court covers seven states from Arkansas to the Dakotas.
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- The switch restarts the confirmation clock weeks before Democrats take the Senate in January.
What happened
Trump appointed Rudofsky to the federal district court in Little Rock in 2019 and decided in August to elevate him when the Eighth Circuit seat opened. Rudofsky had already had a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in September; Hiland's nomination starts a separate review for the same seat, with the Senate changing hands in January.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That the White House has withdrawn Rudofsky and nominated Hiland, in its own announcement, and that Rudofsky has accepted the outcome in his own statement.
What we don't know yet
- Whether the Senate Judiciary Committee can hear and advance Hiland, and the full Senate confirm him, before January — no timetable has been announced.
- Boozman and Cotton's own account — neither senator commented in the reporting read.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (4)
Why this label: The withdrawal and the new nomination are the White House's own announcement, reported by Reuters and in the same terms by Law.com. The seat's vacancy is stated in Law.com's and Bloomberg Law's reporting.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The deadline, the midterm figure, the court's territory and its composition are stated in Reuters' report.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The senators' reported preference and Davis's accusation are reported by Reuters and Bloomberg Law; Hiland's August words are his own, quoted by Reuters from a video of the event. The senators themselves did not comment in the reporting read.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Rudofsky's statement is his own words, quoted by Reuters. He remains a sitting district judge in Little Rock, where Trump appointed him in 2019.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
Home-state senators can quietly end a judicial nomination, and here they appear to have done so to a sitting judge weeks before the majority changes — leaving the White House to restart with the senators' preferred candidate against a January deadline, for a court that decides federal appeals for seven states.
Background
Show the background timeline (4)
Trump appoints Rudofsky as a US district judge in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Trump decides to elevate Rudofsky to the Eighth Circuit when a seat opens; Hiland later says he had expected the nomination himself and declined a district judgeship instead.
Rudofsky's nomination reaches the Senate and he appears before the Judiciary Committee.
The White House withdraws Rudofsky's nomination and nominates Hiland.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published. Basis: the White House announcement reported by Reuters and Law.com, and Judge Rudofsky's own statement.