The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the appointment of Nicholas Ganjei, a longtime federal prosecutor and former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz, as a U.S. district judge in Houston.
After the committee vote Thursday, Ganjei’s confirmation by the full Senate is all but assured. Both Cruz and Sen. John Cornyn serve on the Judiciary Committee, and the two Texas Republicans recommended that President Donald Trump choose Ganjei for one of five vacancies on the bench of the Southern District of Texas. That’s the most openings among the nation’s 94 judicial districts. Trump submitted the nomination to the Senate in November.
A confirmation hearing before the full Senate has not been scheduled. If it goes as expected, Ganjei will fill the seat vacated in February 2023 by U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes, who assumed inactive senior status.
“Nick served as my chief counsel for three years,” Cruz said, “during which he oversaw vital initiatives on criminal justice, border security, judicial nominations, antitrust issues, intellectual property, and religious liberty, I am confident he will make an excellent district judge.”
Added Cornyn: “Texas deserves highly qualified individuals who will uphold our nation’s principles in the courtroom, and Nick is exactly that.”
Ganjei, 46, joined the Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney in 2008. Since January, he has been the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas. Originally named to the position on an interim basis, he was formally appointed in May.
From 2022 to 2025, he was chief counsel to Cruz and to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution.
Before joining Cruz’s staff, he was an assistant U.S. attorney and, briefly, interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.
Ganjei, 46, grew up in California. He earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2005, and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from American University in 2000.