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15h ago

Senate Confirms Whitney Hermandorfer to Sixth Circuit in Partisan Vote

Republican leaders plan to press ahead with nominees to fill roughly 49 remaining vacancies.

FILE - Whitney Hermandorfer of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office speaks before a panel of judges, April 4, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, talks after a policy luncheon on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) holds a press conference following the GOP weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/File Photo
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

Overview

  • Senate confirmed Hermandorfer’s nomination by a 46–42 party-line roll call vote.
  • Hermandorfer is President Trump’s first second-term judicial appointee and previously led strategic litigation in the Tennessee attorney general’s office.
  • She will replace an Obama appointee on the Sixth Circuit, reducing the number of federal judicial vacancies to about 49.
  • Her résumé includes clerkships with Justices Alito, Barrett and Kavanaugh, but Democrats raised concerns over her limited courtroom experience and her advocacy against birthright citizenship and abortion rights.
  • Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans will continue moving swiftly on nominees despite a smaller pool of openings than during Trump’s first term.