WASHINGTON (CN) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced 12 new federal judicial nominations, including one to fill a seat on the Ninth Circuit, another to a spot on the Second Circuit and five to federal courts in California.
For a vacant spot on the Ninth Circuit, Trump selected Judge Danielle Hunsaker, who serves on the Washington County Circuit Court of Oregon. Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown appointed Hunsaker to the state bench in 2017.
Before taking the bench, Hunsaker worked as a partner at the Portland firm Larkins Vacura Kayser and taught at the Lewis & Clark Law School.
Hunsaker was on the list of four finalists for the vacant spot on the Ninth Circuit that Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent to the White House last week. The four finalists came from a bipartisan judicial selection committee the senators and Rep. Greg Walden convened to suggest choices for the seat.
In a letter to the White House, however, both Wyden and Merkley said they were not necessarily endorsing any of the committee's choices by passing them along to the White House. Nicole L'Esperance, a spokesperson for Wyden, said the Oregon Democrat will "assess the nomination of Judge Hunsaker as it moves forward" when the Senate returns from its August recess.
Jeffrey Dobbins, a professor at Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon, said Hunsaker has a "good reputation" in the state and is known as an "even-handed manager" of the court where she serves as presiding judge.
Elizabeth Bingold, the president of Portland lawyer's section of the Federalist Society, also sang the judge's praises, calling her a "wonderful lawyer" who is active in the community.
"There are certain people you think of as a Republican lawyer or a far-left lawyer, she's just a good lawyer," Bingold said in an interview.
Hunsaker clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, a Reagan appointee whom she would replace on the bench if confirmed. She also clerked for Judge Paul Kelly, a President George H. W. Bush appointee, on the 10th Circuit.
To fill a seat on the Second Circuit, Trump tapped William Nardini, who serves as a federal prosecutor in Connecticut. Nardini leads the criminal division of the state's U.S. Attorney's Office and spent time as a Department of Justice attaché at the U.S. embassy in Rome during the Obama administration.
A former clerk to former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, Nardini was involved in the prosecution of H. James Pickerstein, the former Connecticut U.S. attorney who pleaded guilty in 2016 to stealing $600,000 from a convicted mobster he represented in private practice.
With another nod to Connecticut, Trump also chose Judge Barbara Jongbloed to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Jongbloed has served on the New London District Superior Court since 2000 and previously spent time as a federal prosecutor.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both Connecticut Democrats, said they "look forward" to seeing the Senate consider both Nardini and Jongbloed's nominations.
"Barbara Jongbloed and Bill Nardini have long, deep connections with the Connecticut legal community and we look forward to their confirmation processes," Blumenthal and Murphy said in a joint statement.
Blumenthal has not yet taken a position on whether he will support Nardini's nomination, Maria McElwain, the senator's spokesperson, told Courthouse News.
