Career
After law school,Katsas was a law clerk to Judge Edward R. Becker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1989 to 1990. From 1990 to 1991,Katsas clerked for Clarence Thomas,who was then a judge of the District of Columbia Circuit. After President George H. W. Bush appointed Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991,Katsas again clerked for Thomas from 1991 to 1992. [6] [5]
Katsas then entered private practice at the Washington,D.C.,office of the law firm Jones Day,where he specialized in civil and appellate litigation. [7] He argued more than 75 appeals,including three cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. [5] He was at Jones Day from 1992 to 2001,becoming a partner in 1999. [6]
From 2001 to 2009,Katsas served in various positions within the United States Department of Justice,including assistant attorney general for the Civil Division and Acting associate attorney general. [5] Katsas returned to Jones Day from 2009 to 2017. From January to December 2017,Katsas served as deputy White House counsel.
Federal judicial service
On September 7,2017,President Donald Trump nominated Katsas to serve as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,to the seat vacated by Judge Janice Rogers Brown,who retired on August 31,2017. [8] [9]
On October 17,2017,a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. [10] On November 9,2017,his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–9 vote. [11] [12]
On November 27,2017,the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 52–48 vote. [13] On November 28,2017,by a party line vote except for John Neely Kennedy R-LA [14] and Joe Manchin D-WV,with Bob Corker and John McCain absent,Katsas was confirmed by a 50–48 vote. [15] He received his judicial commission on December 8,2017. [16]
He is currently considered the top “feeder”judge,sending the highest number of his law clerks to clerk on the Supreme Court since his appointment to the bench in 2018. Katsas “has sent at least 18 of his law clerks to the high court since the October 2019 term,”according to National Law Journal. [17] [18]
Notable cases
- In 2017,Katsas recused himself from matters regarding the Mueller probe on which he personally worked,but said he would consider the facts of a case before making a decision. [19]
- On September 9,2020,President Trump included him on a list of his potential nominees to the Supreme Court. [20] He has been suggested as a potential nominee in a second Trump administration. [21]
- On April 7,2023,Katsas authored a dissent in Fischer v. United States,a case interpreting whether January 6 participants could be charged under 18 U.S.C. §1512(c),a provision of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act enacted to combat corporate fraud that penalizes anyone who “otherwise obstructs,influences,or impedes any official proceeding.” [23] Rejecting the government’s argument,Katsas argued that interpreting “the structure and history of section 1512,and with decades of precedent applying section 1512(c) only to acts that affect the integrity or availability of evidence”suggest that the government’s reading is “implausibly broad and unconstitutional in a significant number of its applications.” [24]
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