Trump Announces More Nominees for Texas Federal Judgeships (2)

President Donald Trump nominated a former chief counsel to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to serve as a federal judge in Austin, setting up a another one of his appointees to sit in a court that’s teed up to hear political cases.

Andrew Davis, a partner at Lehotsky Keller Cohn, was announced by Trump on social media on Tuesday as a pick for the vacancy in the Western District of Texas. Trump also announced he would nominate Chris Wolfe, currently a local judge in Texas, to another vacant seat in Waco.

Bloomberg Law previously reported that Davis and Wolfe are among the people Texas’ two Republican senators recommended to serve as a federal judges in the state. Wolfe and Davis didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Davis was among three finalists for the Austin judgeship, where—if confirmed—he will be one of three active district judges. The federal courthouse in the state’s capital often houses challenges to Texas laws.

Davis would join US District Judges Robert Pitman, an Obama appointee, and Alan Albright, who Trump initially appointed to sit in Waco. Albright transferred to Austin last year.

Wolfe currently serves as a state court judge in Fort Worth, about 90 miles north of Waco. He attended college and law school at Baylor University, located in the same city where he’d be the only US district judge.

Trump also announced Anna St. John, the president and general counsel of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, as his pick for Eastern District of Louisiana. Trump’s other appointee to the court, William Crain, a Louisiana state supreme court justice, was confirmed in December.

For the Western District of Arkansas, Trump has tapped John Shepherd, a state court judge. He was previously a state-level prosecutor. Trump on Monday resubmitted David Clay Fowlkes, currently the US attorney for the district, as his other nomination to the same court.

Left Out

The announcements follow Trump’s renomination of all his judicial picks who hadn’t gotten Senate confirmation votes before the end of 2025, with one notable exception: John Guard. He’s the former Florida Deputy Attorney General who Trump had tapped for the Middle District of Florida.

Guard saw the White House pause his nomination last year after he was subpoenaed in a criminal investigation related to a Gov. Ron DeSantis-linked charity, according to Axios. He never received a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee that vets and votes on judicial nominations.

When asked about the lack of renomination, a White House official said: “The White House only submitted nominees that were already eligible for markup—those who were not eligible were not included in yesterday’s packet.”

Guard told Bloomberg Law via email that he hasn’t withdrawn his name from consideration for the seat, and that he’s unaware of his name being withdrawn.

Separately, Guard has been certified by Florida’s state Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission as one of several nominees to fill a vacancy on that bench, the Florida Bar said Dec. 30. DeSantis will make the selection.

Alexander Van Hook, tapped for a US judgeship in Louisiana, didn’t have to be resubmitted after the Senate held a procedural vote on his selection before year’s end. He briefly served as an interim US attorney in Louisiana last year, before his nomination.