Commission selects 5 possible 7th Circuit judge candidates

WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//July 28, 2025//

(Deposit Photos)

WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//July 28, 2025//

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Five names have been forwarded to President Trump to fill an upcoming vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh District.

Chief Judge Diana Sykes will assume senior status in October.

The names were selected by a bipartisan commission established by Sen. Ron Johnson and Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

The commission selected Joseph A. Bugni, an attorney with Hurly Burish, S.C. in Milwaukee; Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Mae Davis; Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Kevin E. Martens; Judge Thomas M. Hruz of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District III; and Rebecca L. Taibleson, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

The White House has reviewed 19 applications for the position on its own and has interviewed five of them, including Bugni and Taibleson. The Senate will need to confirm the appointment.

During his first term in office, Trump nominated Michael Brennan in 2017 to fill a previous vacancy on the Seventh Circuit.