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WASHINGTON (CN) – A Mississippi federal judge up for a seat on the Fifth Circuit faced tough questions from Republicans on Wednesday, as GOP senators and conservative legal advocacy groups have expressed rare skepticism about one of President Donald Trump’s nominees to a federal appellate court. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Great Hall. “For a lifetime appointment on the court of appeals, what I think we should be looking for is a demonstrated record as a constitutionalist,” Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden on Wednesday. “As I look at your judicial record, and I’ve asked you...

President Donald Trump’s nominee to a key appellate court could be in jeopardy over Republican concerns about his judicial record and potential issues with his FBI background check. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing Wednesday for Halil Suleyman “Sul” Ozerden, a close friend of White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. But his ability to get through the Senate is already in question. Republican senators are receiving individual briefings from judiciary staff about his FBI background investigation, which typically occurs when there's a potential problem with the nominee, according to...

A federal appeals court upheld an injunction against President Obama’s new deportation in a ruling Tuesday that marks the second major legal setback for an administration that had insisted its actions were legal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Texas, which had sued to stop the amnesty, on all key points, finding that Mr. Obama’s amnesty likely broke the law governing how big policies are to be written.

A federal appeals court refused Tuesday to lift a temporary hold on President Obama's executive action that could shield from deportation as many as 5 million immigrants illegally living in the U.S. The U.S. Justice Department had asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a Texas judge who agreed to temporarily block the president's plan in February, after 26 states filed a lawsuit alleging Obama's action was unconstitutional. But two out of three judges on a court panel voted to deny the government's request. It wasn't immediately clear if the government would appeal, either to the full...

A federal appeals court upheld an injunction against President Obama’s new deportation in a rulingTuesday that marks the second major legal setback for an administration that had insisted its actions were legal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Texas, which had sued to stop the amnesty, on all key points, finding that Mr. Obama’s amnesty likely broke the law governing how big policies are to be written. “The public interest favors maintenance of the injunction,” the judges wrote in the majority opinion. Mr. Obama had acted in November to try to grant tentative...

There were few positive signs for the White House Friday as President Barack Obama’s latest executive actions on immigration were debated in front of a federal appeals court. During more than two hours of oral arguments before the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Obama’s own statements about his immigration moves were used by a Republican-appointed judge to put a Justice Department lawyer on the defensive.

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Two conservative U.S. appeals court judges expressed skepticism on Friday over arguments to lift an injunction blocking President Barack Obama's efforts to overhaul immigration law without congressional action. Administration lawyers were in court to ask a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel to lift the injunction, issued in February by a federal judge in Texas, halting the president's executive action intended to shield 4.7 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.