President Trump Plans to Nominate Two Appellate Judges (1)

President Donald Trump plans to tap a former Justice Department lawyer and a commercial litigator for federal appeals judgeships.

Eric Tung, a former federal prosecutor and counsel in the Office of Legal Policy, is Trump’s latest choice for a vacancy on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the president announced on Truth Social. Tung is currently a partner at Jones Day. Before that he was an assistant US attorney in the Los Angeles-based Central District of California.

If confirmed, Tung would replace Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta, a George W. Bush appointee who announced in March that she’d assume partial retirement upon the appointment of her successor. Tung would further shift the balance on a court that’s long been dominated by Democratic appointees but has increasingly gained a conservative presence. He would be Trump’s 11th appointee to the court.

Joshua Dunlap, an appellate lawyer who primarily handles commercial matters in Portland, Maine, is the president’s pick for the sole vacancy on the First Circuit. If confirmed, he would replace Judge William Kayatta Jr., a Barack Obama appointee who stepped back from active status in 2024. Dunlap would also be the sole Republican-appointed judge on the Boston-based court.

Tung and Dunlap will be Trump’s third and fourth appellate nominees since his return to the White House. His first nominee, Whitney Hermandorfer for the Sixth Circuit, advanced the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Emil Bove, his former personal attorney and current top Justice Department official, is awaiting a committee vote on his nomination to the Third Circuit.