As we predicted last November, President Trump will announce today that he is nominating Judge Amul Thapar for one of the two open seats on the Sixth Circuit.  Judge Thapar is currently serving as a district judge in the Eastern District of Kentucky, and formerly served as the U.S. Attorney for that district.  He is universally well-liked and respected by bench and bar—which might be the reason he will be one of the first (if not the first) circuit-court nominees from President Trump.  He’s also already been vetted, as Judge Thapar was one of the final four nominees for the recent Supreme Court nomination.

We urge the Senate to move quickly on this nomination.  One Sixth Circuit judgeship has been open since 2013, when Judge Martin retired, and another opened just a few weeks ago when Judge Boggs took senior status.  Open judgeships have been piling up around the country – to the detriment of the federal courts – and non-controversial nominees like this should be expedited.