Carl John Nichols

American judge (born 1970)

For the major league catcher, see Carl Nichols (baseball) .

Carl John Nichols (born 1970) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia since 2019. He has concurrently served as a judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court since 2024 and is the Presiding Judge of that court.

Early life

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_J._Nichols&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Early life")
]

Nichols was born in 1970 in Rhinebeck, New York . He spent most of his childhood in Simsbury, Connecticut . He left for college and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1992 from Dartmouth College , where he majored in philosophy and graduated with high honors. He spent some time at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland as an exchange student from Dartmouth.

After graduating, he spent one year as a paralegal at a law firm before attending the University of Chicago Law School , where he was a member of the _University of Chicago Law Review _. He graduated in 1996 with a Juris Doctor , graduating Order of the Coif .

Career

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_J._Nichols&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Career")
]

While in law school, Nichols was a summer associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 1995. After law school, Nichols was a law clerk to Judge Laurence Silberman of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1996 to 1997. He then clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1997 to 1998.

From 1998 to 2005, Nichols was in private practice at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP , becoming a partner in 2002. He later joined the United States Department of Justice as a deputy assistant attorney general for the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division , and then as principal deputy associate attorney general . He left the government in 2009 and joined Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr , where he worked as a partner until 2019.

Federal judicial service

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_J._Nichols&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Federal judicial service")
]

Nichols was mentioned as a potential judicial nominee in March 2018. On June 7, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Nichols to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia . On June 18, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Nichols to the seat vacated by Richard W. Roberts , who assumed senior status on March 16, 2016. On August 22, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee . On October 11, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote.

On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate . On January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Nichols for the same federal judgeship. His nomination was sent to the Senate later that day. On February 7, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On May 21, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 55–42 vote. On May 22, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 55–43 vote. He received his judicial commission on June 25, 2019.

Notable cases

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_J._Nichols&action=edit&section=4 "Edit section: Notable cases")
]

American Foreign Service Association v. Trump

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_J._Nichols&action=edit&section=5 "Edit section: American Foreign Service Association v. Trump")
]

On February 7, 2025, in a case involving the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) , Nichols issued a temporary restraining order that blocked the government from putting 2,200 USAID employees on administrative leave as was planned to happen by midnight that evening, reinstating 500 USAID employees who had already been placed on administrative leave, and pausing an order that recalled USAID employees posted overseas to the United States.

On February 21, Nichols declined to extend the injunction. Nichols ruled that "the record now reflects that no USAID employee stationed abroad has been or imminently will be required to return to the United States within thirty days." Nichols ruled, in effect, that discontinuing housing, visa sponsorship, and security was not tantamount to "requiring" employees stationed abroad to return.

Trial of Steve Bannon

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_J._Nichols&action=edit&section=6 "Edit section: Trial of Steve Bannon")
]

Nichols was the judge for the 2022 trial in which a jury convicted Steve Bannon of contempt of Congress .

…

Judicial Career

Biography