President Donald Trump said he planned to nominate two candidates to federal district court judgeships in Texas, part of a broader slate of judicial picks announced in social media posts.
Trump said he intended to nominate federal prosecutor Courtney L. Coker, with nearly two decades of experience, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard W. Bennett in Houston to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The Texas selections were among a batch of federal judicial picks Trump announced for other courts in Oklahoma, Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana and Florida.
Coker currently serves as first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. During his career, he has prosecuted cases involving drug and human trafficking, cartels and foreign gangs.
“He has prosecuted some of the toughest criminal cases in the Country, including against cartels, foreign gangs, and drug and human traffickers,” Trump said in a social media post.
“The people of Texas (I LOVE TEXAS!) are lucky to have such a strong defender of Law and Order on the Bench,” Trump said in the post.
In his post, Trump praised Richard W. Bennett for his focus on border security and public safety.
“Richard has dedicated his career to protecting the GREAT PEOPLE OF TEXAS,” Trump said in his post. “…A true warrior for Public Safety, Border Security, and our Constitution, Richard will deliver strong results in his new role.”
Most of Bennett’s career has been spent as a prosecutor and in government service.
Bennett would fill the judicial district court seat previously held by Andrew S. Hanen. Hanen assumed senior status on Jan. 2, 2025.
Both Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz recommended Coker and Bennet, “following an extensive review and interview process” by a bipartisan federal judicial evaluation committee, according to a statement from Cornyn.
“Richard Bennett and Courtney Coker have spent decades operating with integrity and working tirelessly to bring offenders to justice,” said Sen. Cornyn in a news release. “Our country and the Lone Star State need sharp legal minds and impartial judges to help preserve our independent judiciary, and I have no doubt Richard and Courtney are up to the task.”
Although the Northern District of Texas has not yet issued an official press announcement or background information for Coker, a background search shows that Coker has experience prosecuting cases in Puerto Rico, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas.
In one of his most notable cases, Coker prosecuted a police-corruption case known as “Operation Guard Shack,” which, according to the DOJ, was at the time the FBI’s largest such investigation. In total, 89 law-enforcement officers and 44 others were indicted on drug-trafficking charges. Nearly 750 FBI agents were flown to Puerto Rico from across the country to assist with arrests early this morning.
Coker also served as an Assistant U. S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida from at least 2013 through 2016. He prosecuted cases involving narcotics, identity theft, and methamphetamine trafficking. In one major case, Coker prosecuted the largest methamphetamine distribution organization in Okeechobee County’s history, according to DOJ press releases.
In 2017, he prosecuted federal cases in Nashville, including one involving an internet threat against law-enforcement officers, in which the defendant posted a photograph of himself holding a Glock pistol.
By late 2018 and 2019, Coker had been promoted to Criminal Chief for the Southern District of Mississippi. He helped lead Project Empower Justice Expel Crime Together (EJECT), a violent crime reduction program that brought law enforcement and the community together to achieve long-term reductions in violent crime and prevent it.
According to DOJ news releases, by May 2020 Coker had become the Deputy Criminal Chief in the Northern District of Texas, and by January 2026, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney.
In a recent case, Coker prosecuted a drug trafficker who was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for distributing hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and other narcotics on behalf of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, a foreign terrorist and drug-trafficking organization.
In addition to serving as a prosecutor, Coker worked from 2004 to 2007 as a solo practitioner, an adjunct professor at Mississippi College of Law, and a special judge and child advocate in Mississippi Youth Court.
He began his private legal career in criminal defense and practiced it until 2004.
He graduated from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, in 1999 and earned his law degree from Mississippi College of Law in 2002.
Coker’s nomination has not yet been formally transmitted to the Senate, according to reports. Coker is expected to fill the vacancy created when Judge David C. Godbey took senior status.
The Northern District currently has two unfilled judgeships: Godbey, who took senior status on Sept. 17, 2025, and Jane J. Boyle, who took senior status on Oct. 1, 2025.
Regarding Bennet, the prospective district judge nominee for the Southern District of Texas, he served as a chief felony prosecutor and assistant district attorney in Galveston County from 2000 to 2003.
He also was a federal law clerk in the Eastern District of Texas from 2003 to 2005, including service with Judge Marcia A. Crone. He entered private practice during portions of 2005 to 2006, and 2009 to 2010.
He served as assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, from 2006 to 2009. He then served as assistant chief counsel for ICE/DHS from 2010 to 2016.
Before becoming U.S. magistrate judge in April 2024, he served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, from 2016 to 2024.
Bennett earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from Texas Christian University. During that period, he studied at the Universidad de Sevilla in spring 1996. He graduated from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law in 2000.
The announcements come as lawmakers have limited time to review and confirm the president’s nominees before the end of the year. The Senate is set to return in mid-September for three weeks before breaking again until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Even if all of Trump’s nominees appear for their confirmation hearings in September, they may find it difficult to be confirmed until the “lame duck” session after the election — and then the Senate could face attendance issues.