January 9th , 2026 update

A new year. A new congressional session. But — sadly — a continuation of some of the worst of 2025, seemingly on steroids. We join in mourning the brutal killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE officers in Minnesota which is not the first death at the hands of ICE. And, on another front, we share the deep concern over US actions in Venezuela as well as threats to other sovereign states. Indeed, 2026 has gotten off to a troubling start. The second session of the 119th Congress burst out of the starting gate with the House voting to extend enhanced health insurance subsidies (finally), and the Senate advancing a war powers resolution to require Congressional authorization for any further military action in Venezuela. Both votes were bipartisan. In another bipartisan vote in the Senate, Alexander Van Hook was confirmed 53-40 to the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. He also received Democratic support during his mark-up in the Senate Judiciary Committee. We begin the second session of this Congress with 27 confirmations.

As expected, the White House renominated all but one of the nominees from last year who were pending on the Senate floor. John Guard was not renominated to the District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Additionally, new nominees were announced: Anna St. John to the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana; Judge John Shepherd to the District Court for the Western District of Arkansas; and Andrew Davis and Judge Chris Wolfe to the District Court for the Western District of Texas. Their hearings are expected on February 4.

Since our last Weekly Wrap Up, there have been some noteworthy court decisions — including one in the Wyoming state supreme court. Here are a few:

In the continuing saga of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s fight to be freed from immigration detention which is playing out in District Court of Maryland, Judge Paula Xinis (Obama nominee) has extended her prohibition against re-detaining Abrego who was freed on December 11. In the criminal case against him in the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Judge Waverly Crenshaw, also an Obama nominee, canceled his trial on human smuggling charges and has set a late-January hearing on whether the charges are a result of vindictive prosecution. In a newly unsealed order, it appears that the Department of Justice pushed local prosecutors to bring the case against Abrego, contradicting the DOJ’s contention that the case was initiated locally.
In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel on the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government could not reduce grants from the National Institute of Health to universities. The Trump administration had capped the amount that universities and other grant recipients could use for overhead costs such as the purchase and upkeep of vital research equipment because they claimed it funded DEI initiatives.
Biden-nominated Judge Trina Thompson of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Department of Homeland Security could not terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for tens of thousands of immigrants from Nicaragua, Nepal, and Honduras because DHS did not follow proper procedure and was “arbitrary and capricious.”
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that two anti-abortion laws violated the Wyoming state constitution. The state’s only abortion clinic had sued to block bills banning abortion that were passed subsequent to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. Notably, the court also struck down the country’s first ban on medication abortion. The 4-1 decision was rendered by justices all of whom had been appointed by Republican governors. The current governor is urging the state legislature to pass a state constitutional amendment banning abortion.

► Senate Judiciary Committee

The judiciary committee kicked off the new year with a hearing on Impeachment: Holding Rogue Judges Accountable. Some of the testimony was disturbing. On January 15, the committee plans to hold a mark-up on six nominees: Justin Olson to the District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (opposed by NCJW) who has been touted as a “specialist” in cases of excluding transgender women athletes from school sports and who has troubling beliefs about women being subservient to men, among other extreme views; Brian Lea to the District Court for the Western District of Tennessee who defended cuts to NIH; Judge Megan Benton to the District Court for the Western District of Missouri; Clay Fowlkes to the District Court for the Western District of Arkansas; Aaron Peterson to the District Court of Alaska; and Nicholas Ganjei to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

► Opportunities

For those in Washington, DC, join NCJW and coalition colleagues for a rally outside of the Supreme Court “Together We Win,” beginning at 9:30am on January 13 when the Court will take up two cases consequential to the future of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people: West Virginia v. BPJ and Little v. Hecox.
Join us for the Piper Fund’s annual webinar on January 29th at 1pm ET to examine the growing campaign against judicial integrity at the state court level, why state courts matter, and what can be done to protect and advance judicial integrity – an integral part of a just, equitable democracy. The panel of experts include two Courts Matter leaders, Kadida Kenner, Founding CEO of the New Pennsylvania Project and Laura Rodriguez, Chair of Courts Matter Florida; Rikki Henderson from Montana State Voices; and Mike Milov-Cordoba, Counsel of the Judiciary Program at the Brennan Center. They will break down recent attacks and share how they are pushing back through tactics like public education and coalition-building. This webinar is open to both funders and advocates. Register now! It will not be recorded.

► ICYMI

(Politico) Court watchers fear Emil Bove’s ‘level of allegiance’ to Trump

(Courthouse News) Senate judiciary clashes over judicial impeachments

(Reason) John Roberts touts judicial independence, subtly rebukes Trump in year-end report

(Politico) Hundreds of judges reject Trump’s mandatory detention policy with no end in sight

(Hill) Trump’s judicial battles raise profiles of federal judges