Daniel Traynor

Daniel Mack Traynor is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota. He was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump (R) on September 19, 2019, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 19, 2019, by a vote of 51-41.^[1][2] He received commission on January 13, 2020. To see a full list of judges appointed by Donald Trump, click here.

The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Although federal judicial positions are officially nonpartisan, Traynor was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from North Dakota. Click here for more information.

Traynor is a shareholder at the Traynor Law Firm in Devils Lake, North Dakota.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the District of North Dakota

See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

On September 19, 2019, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Traynor to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota.^[1] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Daniel Traynor
Court: United States District Court for the District of North Dakota
Progress
Confirmed 91 days after nomination.
Nominated: September 19, 2019
ABA Rating: Unanimously well qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
Hearing: September 25, 2019
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
Reported: October 31, 2019
Confirmed: December 19, 2019
Vote: 51-41

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Traynor on December 19, 2019, on a vote of 51-41.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Traynor confirmation vote (December 19, 2019)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	0	40	5
Republican	51	0	2
Independent	0	1	1
Total	51	41	8

Change in Senate rules

See also:

Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress

Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

United States federal courts

Singhal was confirmed to a U.S. District Court under a new precedent the Senate established.

On April 3, 2019, the U.S. Senate voted 51-48 in favor of a change to chamber precedent lowering the maximum time allowed for debate on executive nominees to posts below the Cabinet level and on nominees to district court judgeships from 30 hours after invoking cloture to two.^[3]

The change was passed under a procedure, often referred to as the nuclear option, that requires 51 votes rather than 60.^[4]

It was the third use of the nuclear option in Senate history. In 2013, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to confirm presidential nominees, except those to the Supreme Court. In 2017, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold required to confirm Supreme Court nominees.^[5] For more, see Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress.

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

Traynor had his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 25, 2019.^[6] The committee voted 12-10 on October 31 to advance his nomination to the full Senate.^[7]

Nomination

On August 28, 2019, President Donald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Traynor to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota.^[8] The U.S. Senate officially received the nomination September 19.^[1]

Traynor was nominated to replace Judge Daniel Hovland, who assumed senior status November 10, 2019.^[1]

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Traynor well qualified for the position.^[9] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Early life and education

Traynor was born in 1970 in Devils Lake, North Dakota. He earned his B.A. from the University of North Dakota in 1994. He obtained his J.D., with distinction, from the University of North Dakota School of Law, where he was Order of the Coif, in 1997. During his legal studies, Traynor served as an associate editor on the North Dakota Law Review.^[10][11]

Professional career

• 1998-present: Traynor Law Firm, P.C.
  • 2006-present: Shareholder
  • 1998-2005: Associate
• 1998-present: Assistant city attorney, City of Devils Lake
• 1997-1998: Law clerk to Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle, North Dakota Supreme Court^[11]

About the court

District of North Dakota
Eighth Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 2
Judges: 2
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Peter Welte
Active judges: Daniel Traynor, Peter Welte Senior judges: Patrick Conmy, Daniel Hovland

The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota is one of 94 United States district courts. The court is headquartered in Fargo and has additional locations at Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot. The district was created in 1889, when the Dakota Territory was divided into North Dakota and South Dakota. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, based in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, at the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse and Building.

The jurisdiction of the District of North Dakota consists of all the counties in the state of North Dakota. The District of North Dakota has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The court is headquartered in Fargo and has additional locations at Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

• The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
• The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

• As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

• After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

• If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
• If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

• The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

• If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
• If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

Noteworthy events

Federal judges sign letter regarding hiring Columbia University students (2024)

On May 6, 2024, Traynor and 12 other federal judges signed a letter to Columbia University saying they would not hire undergraduates or law students from the university, beginning with the entering class of 2024.^[12]

In the letter, the judges said, "As judges who hire law clerks every year to serve in the federal judiciary, we have lost confidence in Columbia as an institution of higher education."^[13]

They signed the letter in the context of student demonstrations at Columbia University over the Israel-Hamas War. The students who participated in the demonstrations demanded that the university divest all of its finances from "companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine."^[14]

The judges said they believed the university should institute consequences for faculty and students who participated in the demonstrations. They also called on the university to practice "neutrality and nondiscrimination in the protection of freedom of speech" and "viewpoint diversity on the faculty and across the administration."^[13]

The Washington Post reported that Dean of Columbia Law School Gillian Lester said in a statement that graduates are "consistently sought out by leading employers in the private and public sectors, including the judiciary." Lester did not directly address the letter.^[12]

2016 Republican National Convention Delegate

Traynor was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from North Dakota. All North Dakota delegates were unpledged. Traynor, however, was one of 18 North Dakota delegates on a list of preferred delegates circulated by Ted Cruz's campaign prior to the North Dakota State Convention in April 2016.^[15] Cruz suspended his campaign on May 3, 2016. At the time, he had approximately 546 bound delegates. For more on what happened to his delegates, see this page.

Delegate rules

See also: RNC delegate guidelines from North Dakota, 2016 and Republican delegates from North Dakota, 2016

Delegates from North Dakota to the 2016 Republican National Convention were selected by committee at the state Republican convention in April 2016. North Dakota GOP bylaws did not require delegates to indicate which presidential candidate they prefer at the time of their selection. At the national convention, delegates from North Dakota were unbound on all ballots.

Delegate allocation

See also: 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules

North Dakota had 28 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention: 22 at-large delegates, three congressional district delegates, and three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates). Delegates to the state convention were selected at district conventions, where no presidential preference poll was taken. The state's Republican National Convention delegation was selected at the state GOP convention, April 1-3, 2016.^[16][17]

See also

• United States District Court for the District of North Dakota
• United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit
• Republican National Convention, 2016
• 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules
• RNC delegate guidelines from North Dakota, 2016
• Republican delegate rules by state, 2016
• Presidential election, 2016

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• United States District Court for the District of North Dakota
• United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit
• Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
• Profile from the Traynor Law Firm (archived 2019)

Footnotes