Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday introduced Drew Tipton to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi. Tipton’s confirmation will fill the last vacancy in Texas. Since 2017, the Senate has confirmed 20 judges for the state.
As Sen. Cruz said:
“Drew’s experiences as a trial advocate and his deep history with the Southern District make him a strong and well-qualified candidate to be a judge for the Southern District, and I’m proud to support him, and I look forward to this committee reporting favorably on his nomination.”
Sen. Cruz’s full remarks may be viewed here and below:
“Mr. Tipton, if and when he’s confirmed, will fill the twenty-first vacancy we had on the federal bench in Texas. We have, right now, twenty federal judges that have been nominated and confirmed in the last three years.
“Senator Cornyn and I, just a few weeks back, had the opportunity to break bread with those twenty judges who are now serving and serving honorably. We have one vacancy remaining, and I look forward to Mr. Tipton filling that lone remaining vacancy. Mr. Tipton went through the process that each of those twenty previous nominees went through, which is the bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee that Senator Cornyn and I have together set up that is a committee of very learned and experienced members of the bar across the state of Texas.
“It is a bipartisan committee. It includes both Republicans and Democrats. It includes lawyers who have spent a lot of time in a lot of courtrooms. And whenever any vacancy in the federal bench occurs in Texas, we publicly post that vacancy and we call, put out an open call, for applications. That committee vets, interviews and makes recommendations to Senator Cornyn and I, which in turn, we pass on to the President. In this instance, Mr. Tipton came through that process with flying colors. He impressed both Senator Cornyn and myself when we sat down and interviewed him, and we were proud to recommend to the President that he make the nomination.
“Drew was born and raised in the Southern District of Texas. And with the notable exception of the time he spent serving his country as a marine, he has made his life and he’s made his living in the Southern District of Texas. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and shortly thereafter with a J.D. from South Texas College of Law in my hometown of Houston. After graduating from law school, Drew clerked for Federal District Judge, John Rainey, in the very same building in Corpus Christi where he will soon sit if and when the Senate confirms him.
“Following his time with Judge Rainey, Drew went on to become a respected litigator in Houston, where from more than twenty years he worked on labor and employment matters. And he’s currently a partner at BakerHostetler, as well as the leader of their employment section. Drew’s experiences as a trial advocate and his deep history with the Southern District make him a strong and well-qualified candidate to be a judge for the Southern District, and I’m proud to support him, and I look forward to this committee reporting favorably on his nomination.”
