The Senate on Thursday managed to confirm along a mostly party line vote another of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees.
The Senate confirmed Kasdin Miller Mitchell,Trump’s nominee to serve as a federal district judge in Texas, adding another lifetime appointment to the federal judiciary during Trump’s second term.
Mitchell was confirmed 49-45 to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The Senate had earlier voted 49-47 to advance her nomination by invoking cloture.
Trump nominated Mitchell in May to fill the seat previously held by Judge Barbara M. Lynn, who retired. The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced her nomination in July on an 11-10 vote.
Mitchell is a litigation partner at the Dallas office of Kirkland & Ellis and has handled complex trial and appellate cases.
She previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Mitchell also worked as an assistant solicitor general for Alabama.
Before attending law school, Mitchell worked in the George W. Bush administration, including as an assistant press secretary to first lady Laura Bush and in the Department of Energy.
She earned both her undergraduate degree and law degree from Yale University. While at Yale Law School, she worked on the Yale Law Journal and Yale Law & Policy Review.
Mitchell has also been involved in litigation concerning constitutional issues, including gun rights. Reuters reported that she worked on *New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen*, the landmark 2022 Supreme Court case that expanded protections for carrying firearms in public.
Her confirmation gives Trump another appointee on the Northern District of Texas, a federal court system covering much of northern and western Texas, including Dallas and Fort Worth.
According to Reuters, Mitchell became Trump’s 55th confirmed judicial nominee since he returned to office in January 2025. Trump appointed 234 federal judges during his first term.
The Northern District of Texas now has seven Trump appointees among its 10 active judges, according to Reuters. The court has handled a number of nationally significant challenges to federal policies in recent years.
Mitchell’s confirmation came as Senate Republicans continued processing judicial nominations before lawmakers leave Washington for the final stretch of the 2026 midterm campaign.
Following the Mitchell vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the nomination of Angela Veronica Colmenero to become a district judge for the Southern District of Texas, setting up another potential confirmation vote.
Federal district judges serve lifetime appointments under Article III of the Constitution, subject to resignation, retirement or removal through impeachment.
Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee for U.S. Surgeon General is already facing a bit of controversy ahead of her Senate confirmation hearings.
Dr. Nicole Saphier, an oncologist and now-former Fox News contributor, last week disclosed investments in a wide range of tobacco, food, beverage, and pharmaceutical companies, holdings she has agreed to sell or reduce if confirmed by the Senate.
Saphier reported investments in Philip Morris International, McDonald’s, Monster Beverage, Coca-Cola, and other major corporations in financial disclosures released Thursday, according to Bloomberg Law.
Her portfolio also includes stakes in some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Eli Lilly, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, and Gilead Sciences.
The disclosures attracted particular attention because the Surgeon General serves as one of the federal government’s most visible public-health officials and has historically played a major role in communicating the dangers associated with tobacco use, unhealthy diets, and other health risks.
Saphier’s ethics agreement calls for her to divest completely or partially from numerous companies whose business interests could potentially overlap with issues she would confront as Surgeon General.
Other reported holdings include Pfizer, AstraZeneca, AbbVie, and Biogen, among a much longer list of health-care and biotechnology companies.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
