White House Press Release - President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Candidate Nominations

President Donald J. Trump announced his first wave of Federal judicial nominees, intending to nominate the following individuals to Federal judgeships.

If confirmed, Whitney D. Hermandorfer, of Tennessee, will serve as Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Whitney Hermandorfer is the Director of the Strategic Litigation Unit in the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General. She was previously an associate at Williams & Connolly, LLP in Washington, D.C. After graduating law school, Ms. Hermandorfer was a law clerk to Justices Samuel A. Alito and Amy Coney Barrett of the United States Supreme Court, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Ms. Hermandorfer earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Princeton University, where she was co-captain of the women’s varsity basketball team. She earned her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, where she graduated summa cum laude and first in her class and was Editor-in-Chief of the George Washington University Law Review.

If confirmed, Joshua M. Divine, of Missouri, will serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and Western District of Missouri. Joshua Divine is the Solicitor General of the State of Missouri and Director of Special Litigation in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Mr. Divine previously served as the Chief Counsel to United States Senator Josh Hawley and as a Deputy Solicitor General within the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Mr. Divine also served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court and to Chief Judge William H. Pryor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Mr. Divine received his B.S., summa cum laude, from the University of Northern Colorado, and received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was a member of the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Law & Policy Review.

If confirmed, Zachary M. Bluestone, of Missouri, will serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Zachary Bluestone is appellate chief and a violent crimes prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. Mr. Bluestone previously served in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office as Deputy Solicitor General. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Bluestone served as a law clerk to Judge Raymond Gruender of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Mr. Bluestone earned his B.S., summa cum laude, from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, his MBA from the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.

If confirmed, Maria A. Lanahan, of Missouri, will serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Maria Lanahan is the Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Ms. Lanahan previously served as senior manager and litigation counsel for Charter Communications, Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri, and as an associate in the St. Louis office of Thompson Coburn, LLP. Ms. Lanahan also served as a law clerk to Judge Raymond Gruender of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and to Justice Brian K. Zahra of the Michigan Supreme Court. Ms. Lanahan earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Gonzaga University, where she was a member of the women’s varsity basketball team, and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor for the University of Chicago Law Review.

If confirmed, Cristian M. Stevens, of Missouri, will serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Cristian M. Stevens is a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, in St. Louis, Missouri. Judge Stevens previously served as First Assistant Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the Criminal Division in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Judge Stevens also served as Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri and was a partner at Armstrong Teasdale, LLP, in St. Louis. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Stevens served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Pasco M. Bowman II of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Stevens received his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Missouri, and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Missouri School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Law Review.

If confirmed, Edward Aloysius O’Connell, of the District of Columbia, will serve as Associate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Edward Aloysius O’Connell is Chief of Staff and Deputy General Counsel of the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Previously, Mr. O’Connell served for nearly two decades as a prosecutor in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he prosecuted homicides, felony major crimes, domestic violence, organized crime, and narcotics offenses. Before that, he was an Assistant State Attorney in Baltimore, MD. Following law school, Mr. O’Connell served as a law clerk to Chief Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Rufus King III. Mr. O’Connell received his B.A. from The Catholic University of America, and his J.D. from Quinnipiac University School of Law.