Judiciary Committee sends two more Trump judicial nominees to the Senate floor

Daniel Domenico and Matthew Byrne are one step closer to confirmation.

Jul 23, 2026

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced the nominations of Daniel Domenico for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and Matthew Byrne for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Both votes were party-line.

Several committee Republicans didn’t show up to this morning’s markup, forcing the committee to meet off the Senate floor later in the day to take the votes.

Before the committee adjourned this morning, most of the members’ remarks were related to Todd Blanche, whose nomination to serve as attorney general was held over and will be voted on next week. The committee had also intended to formalize Senator Darline Graham’s appointment to the committee and its subcommittees (which they ultimately did via voice vote), and she was in attendance this morning to provide brief remarks.

“For nearly 30 years, I’ve served the people of South Carolina, so I know how the work of this committee impacts the lives of South Carolinians and Americans across the country,” Senator Graham said. “What we do in this room impacts the safety and prosperity of every American. I understand the weight of this responsibility, and I intend to meet it with the same seriousness, integrity, and care that I’ve brought to every day of my career in South Carolina, to the people of South Carolina. I’m honored to be joining the Senate Judiciary Committee, and I look forward to serving alongside each one of you.”

Domenico and Byrne

Domenico was confirmed to the District of Colorado during Trump’s first term and is now up for a promotion to the appellate bench. If confirmed, he will take the place of Judge Timothy Tymkovich — for whom he clerked more than two decades ago.

Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, who previously supported Domenico’s confirmation to the district court, opposes his elevation to the Tenth Circuit.

“An appellate level role on the federal circuit is fundamentally different from and more consequential than that of a district court judge, and serious questions remain about his interpretations of constitutional and statutory text,” Senator Bennet said when announcing his opposition. “Moreover, we are considering Judge Domenico for this new position at a moment when the Trump Administration has spent years undermining the rule of law and eroding the independence of the federal courts. I cannot support his nomination in this context.”

Both nominees had their confirmation hearing on June 24 — the anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Notably, Byrne is a fierce opponent of reproductive freedom. “My pro-life credentials cannot be questioned,” he wrote on one judicial survey while running for his current state court judgeship in 2020.

During their hearing and in response to written questions for the record, both nominees refused to say that Joe Biden won — or that Trump lost — the 2020 election. “President Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and served as the 46th President of the United States,” Domenico wrote. “Joseph R. Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election by a joint session of Congress after the counting of the Electoral College votes,” Byrne said. They also dodged questions related to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Domenico faced questions about his rulings in cases related to ICE’s detention policy. At the time of his hearing, Domenico had ruled in eight of these cases — each time siding with the Trump administration. Since then, as he noted in response to written questions, the Tenth Circuit issued a decision that forced him to change course. “In response, I immediately ordered the government to show cause in any pending cases why the petitioners should not be released or given a bond hearing,” he wrote.

In a 2020 judicial candidate survey, Byrne agreed with the idea that “The judiciary does not possess the authority to expand the definition of marriage to include anything but one man and one woman.” He endorsed that statement five years after the U.S. Supreme Court declared marriage equality the law of the land. He faced questions about this — and about his deeply held anti-abortion beliefs — but repeatedly promised to be an impartial judge.

Domenico and Byrne could be confirmed as soon as next week.

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