U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he is nominating a top U.S. Department of Justice official who hails from Missouri and the solicitor general for Republican-led North Dakota to serve as federal district court judges in those states.
Trump in a social media post on his Truth Social platform said he is nominating Jesus Osete to serve as a life-tenured judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, calling him "a strong Defender of the Constitution."
He also said he is nominating Philip Axt, North Dakota's solicitor general, to serve on his state's federal court. He hailed Axt for having "litigated numerous important cases for the State, including challenges to harmful Biden Administration policies."
The president earlier this week announced nine other district court nominees in Republican-led states, as time dwindles for the Republican-led Senate to confirm new judges before a potential shift in party control after the November 3 midterm elections.
Since joining the DOJ last year as the top deputy to Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon, Osete helped lead the division's shift from traditional priorities such as combating discrimination and providing oversight of police to Trump's emphasis on protecting gun rights and pushing back on diversity initiatives.
Dhillon, in a post on X, called him a "brilliant, accomplished, and principled lawyer who stepped away from a successful private career to serve his country, and who should be swiftly confirmed."
Osete was a lead lawyer on the DOJ's unsuccessful lawsuit last year seeking to block California from using a new electoral map to advantage Democrats in an attempt to push back on Republican-led redistricting efforts.
His name also appeared on briefs on the administration's behalf in its unsuccessful bids to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day and to force Democratic-led Michigan to turn over voter roll data.
Earlier in his career, Osete worked at the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and served in government in Republican-led Missouri, both as general counsel to then-Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and as Missouri's deputy solicitor general under Eric Schmitt, who was at the time the state's attorney general.
In that role, Osete argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 on behalf of Republican-led states challenging a rule Democratic President Joe Biden's administration adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic that imposed a vaccine mandate for workers in healthcare facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients.
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision in January 2022 lifted lower-court injunctions that had blocked that rule from being enforced.
Schmitt today is one of Missouri's two Republican senators along with Josh Hawley, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Trump said both of them recommended Osete be nominated to fill a seat currently held by U.S. District Judge David Gregory Kays, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush who plans to leave active service.
"As Missouri’s attorney general, I saw Jesus’ dedication to upholding the rule of law and maintaining the rich legal tradition of our nation," Schmitt said in a statement. "He truly understands what is expected of a judge and what it means to do the job well."
