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The Daily Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Caitlin Tremblay

Good morning. Todd Blanche’s AG nomination highlights a trend of President Trump’s former personal lawyers landing key government gigs. Plus, a federal judge in D.C. will weigh Trump’s “weaponization” fund; the 8th Circuit will consider whether to revive two lawsuits alleging 3M’s Bair Hugger forced-air warming blanket caused postoperative infections; and the DOJ said EEOC guidance on worker civil rights is unlawful. Here are some unusual photos to kick off your Wednesday, which I hope is very usual.

Blanche’s nom spotlights past Trump personal lawyer appointments

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

President Trump formally nominated his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general this week, setting up a test of the president’s sway over Senate Republicans. Blanche has been acting AG since April, when former AG Pam Bondi was removed from the post.

Blanche, a former Cadwalader partner and federal prosecutor, represented Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial.

Here’s a look at past appointments from Trump’s personal legal bench:

Emil Bove: Emil Bove was confirmed to a seat on the 3rd Circuit. Bove also represented Trump in the Stormy Daniels case.

Harmeet Dhillon: Dhillon, founder of small, conservative law firm Dhillon Law Group, was confirmed in December 2025 to lead the DOJ’s civil rights unit. Dhillon Law Group was defending Trump in a federal defamation lawsuit in Philadelphia brought by the Central Park Five. Most recently, Dhillon has worked on the president’s push to access unredacted state voter rolls. David Warrington, formerly of Dhillon Law Group, is now White House counsel.

Will Scharf: Scharf, a member of Trump’s legal team in his federal election interference case, now chairs the National Capital Planning Commission, one of two federal bodies assigned a role in overseeing key D.C.-area building projects. The commission approved Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project which has since been caught up in litigation and is currently before the D.C. Circuit.

Alina Habba: Trump named Habba as the acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. She resigned in December after the 3rd Circuit ruled that her appointment was unlawful and disqualified her from supervising cases.

Kendra Wharton: Wharton was also on Trump’s Stormy Daniels team and also worked with Blanche and Bove defending Trump against two federal indictments over classified records and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. She was a senior DOJ ethics official until July 2025, when she left the department to return to private practice. She is still defending Trump.

Coming up today

Product liability: The 8th Circuit will hear arguments from two plaintiffs who allege 3M’s Bair Hugger forced-air warming blanket caused postoperative infections. The lower court dismissed the cases, which are tied to a larger MDL in the District of Minnesota.
Constitutional: The 9th Circuit will hear arguments in an appeal from former Washington State University head football coach Nick Rolovich, who was fired over his request for a religious exemption from the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In January, the lower court ruled that his firing was justified.
Government: U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in D.C. will hold a TRO hearing in watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s challenge to President Trump’s $1.8 billion “weaponization” fund. The DOJ has asked the court to reject the case because Acting AG Todd Blanche has already said the fund will not move forward. Read that filing here. Last month, a federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked the fund.
Labor: U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in D.C. will hold a motion hearing in a lawsuit filed by labor unions seeking to block President Trump’s executive orders barring collective bargaining across major federal agencies.
Voting rights: U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Baltimore will hold a hearing over the DOJ’s demand that Maryland hand over its unredacted voter rolls.
Tariffs: The U.S. customs agency is due to provide its latest report to a federal trade judge on the status of a system for refunding $166 billion in tariffs imposed by President Trump that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in February. At 2 pm ET, the court is holding a closed-door conference with customs lawyers.
IP: Deckers Outdoor Corp will try to convince a California jury that Quince's "dupes" of its fur-lined Uggs boots infringe one of its design patents. The case is one of the first over "dupes" of popular products to head to trial.
Second Amendment: The Delaware Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a new state law that bans adults under 21 years old from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition, with limited exceptions.
Voting rights: The Wyoming Supreme Court will consider whether the state can freeze voters’ ability to change parties within 96 days of a primary election.
Banking: A U.S. judge's 90-day pause of the DOJ’s criminal case against Halkbank, intended to give the Turkish state-run lender a chance to demonstrate compliance with the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement, ends today.
Judiciary: The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a hearing on some of President Trump's judicial nominees, including the first two to hail from states with Democratic senators, who agreed to let the nominations advance by turning in blue slips.

Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.

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