Judge Traynor
President Donald Trump has nominated North Dakota U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to reporting by Mary Steurer of the North Dakota Monitor. Traynor now awaits confirmation from the Senate.
The nomination was announced by Republican Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, who recommended Traynor for the position. The vacancy is left by Judge Ralph Erickson, who is chambered in Fargo, as he intends to take senior judge status and retire from active service.
This follows Traynor’s initial appointment to District Court Judge, serving in that position since 2020. During this time, he issued several key rulings detailed in Steurer’s report:
- Traynor ruled in 2025 that Catholic employers did not have to follow Biden-era rules that protected employee’s access to abortion and fertility treatment, and prevented LGBTQ discrimination.
- When a wave of federal judges ruled against the Trump administration’s new practice of indefinitely holding some noncitizens without bond after unlawful entry, Traynor was one of only a few judges to rule in favor of the practice. Conversely, Erickson, the retiring 8th Circuit judge, was the only dissenting judge in a 2-1 decision mirroring Traynor’s ruling.
- In 2025, he ordered the federal government to pay North Dakota $28 million for damages that occurred during the DAPL protests. Recently the parties asked him to overturn the judgement.
- Notably, Traynor has publicly criticized the American Bar Association, claiming they have left-leaning partisanship.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals oversees North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas.
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