Trump nominates three district court judges, including Mark Pittman for Fort Worth
President Donald Trump announced plans to nominate three judges to Texas district courts Wednesday, including Mark Pittman for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Pittman currently serves on the Texas Second District Court of Appeals, and previously worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
He helped found the Tarrant County chapter of the Federalist Society, a conservative organization that wants to overhaul the justice system with originalist interpretations of the constitution.
“[Pittman’s] very knowledgeable and congenial… he’ll be a great federal judge,” said Diane Kozub, former assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Texas and another founding member of that group.
The Northern District has seven court divisions, including one in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth division covers Comanche, Erath, Hood, Jack, Palo Pinto, Parker, Tarrant, and Wise counties.
Trump also plans to nominate Wes Hendrix to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Lubbock and Sean Jordan for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Plano, both at the recommendation of Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
Both Cornyn and Cruz are Republicans and members of the Republican-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee which must approve judicial nominees before they go to vote in the full Senate. Republicans control 53 seats in the Senate, Democrats control 45. There are two independents who caucus with the Democrats..
The Texas senators vetted the candidates through the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, a group they created to allow Texas attorneys from both parties a say in who the senators recommend to the president for judicial nominations.
This story was originally published January 16, 2019 at 3:32 PM.