Trump picks two new federal judges for Minn.
President Donald Trump has nominated two new federal judges for Minnesota.
Nancy Brasel is a judge in Hennepin County, who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Mark Dayton in 2011. She was previously a prosecutor in the office of the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, and a partner at the law firm of Greene Espel. She is also a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and a former managing editor of the school's law review.
Eric Tostrud is with the Lockridge Grindal Nauen law firm and is also a faculty member at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul. He has a long career as a federal business law attorney. He's also a William Mitchell law school graduate.
Both have been clerks for federal appeals court judges and Tostrud once served as a clerk to the late federal judge Edward Devitt.
Brasel and Tostrud will replace judges Ann Montgomery and Donovan Frank, who were appointed by Bill Clinton. Montgomery was appointed in 1995 and confirmed in 1996. Frank was appointed and confirmed in 1998. Montgomery and Frank have been serving in a senior status role since 2016.
Brasel and Tostrud both require U.S. Senate confirmation. They will make a preliminary stop in the Senate Judiciary committee, which includes Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.
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