WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump nominated two prosecutors from Texas’s Southern District to serve as federal judges, he announced Wednesday on social media.
Trump selected acting U.S. Attorney John Marck and Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Arthur “Rob” Jones, both based in Houston, for the lifetime appointments. The nominations follow the February confirmation of former Southern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei. Marck became acting head of the district after Ganjei resigned in March.
Trump said Marck has focused on deporting criminal immigrants and combating drug trafficking, while Jones has prosecuted criminal immigrants and illegal drug cases, emphasizing border security.
The nominations require confirmation by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate. Four judicial vacancies currently exist in the Southern District of Texas, all resulting from judges taking senior status in the past three years.
The Southern District’s U.S. Attorney’s Office has publicly released weekly immigration and border-related case statistics, part of the nationwide Operation Take Back America initiative targeting criminal activity by undocumented immigrants and other security threats.
