RALEIGH – President Donald Trump announced two nominees for federal trial courts in North Carolina, selecting Philip Aubart for the Middle District and Brian S. Meyers for the Eastern District.
Trump announced the selections Thursday in separate social media posts. The selections are announcements of intended nominations, not confirmations.
Aubart is the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Trump said Aubart previously worked in that office’s Violent Crimes Section, serves in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and clerked for U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle. Trump said he intends to nominate Aubart to the Middle District bench.
Meyers has served as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Eastern District since October 2020. Trump said Meyers previously spent more than a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney, including work involving narcotics, public corruption and national security cases. Meyers also served as a Marine Corps judge advocate.
Trump said both selections have the support of North Carolina Republican Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis. Reuters reported that the Senate recessed Wednesday until after the Nov. 3 midterm election. That schedule means the nominations would not be considered until the lame-duck session unless the Senate changes its calendar.
Federal district judges handle criminal prosecutions, civil disputes and challenges involving federal law. The Middle and Eastern district courts serve different regions of the state. Federal district judges receive lifetime appointments after presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.
Once formal paperwork reaches the Senate, the nominees can submit Judiciary Committee questionnaires and appear at confirmation hearings. The committee can then report nominations to the full Senate. No hearing dates or votes were announced Thursday.
The announcements do not place either nominee on the bench. The nominations must be formally submitted and then considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate before confirmation.
Sources
- President Donald Trump: Oct. 1 announcement of Brian Meyers
- President Donald Trump: Oct. 1 announcement of Philip Aubart
- Reuters: Oct. 1 report on the judicial announcements
Photo Credit: Warren LeMay, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped from an original photograph of the Old Federal Building in Raleigh, which houses the North Carolina branch of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.