President Donald Trump announced two nominees for influential federal appellate courts that hear a number of key energy and environmental cases.
Eric Tung, a partner at the firm Jones Day, is nominated to serve on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Joshua Dunlap, a partner at the Maine law firm Pierce Atwood, is nominated to serve on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Boston-based 1st Circuit has emerged as a favorite for Democratic challengers to Trump’s efforts to roll back climate initiatives in his second term. Dunlap would be the only Republican appointee currently on the bench, the smallest appeals court in the nation.
The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit has long been favored by conservation groups looking to expand federal climate and environmental protections, though the court has a near-even split between the number of active judges nominated by Democratic and Republican presidents. About a third of the judges on the court were nominated by Trump during his first term.
