Rudofsky loses way on path to Eighth Circuit, Hiland picks up the trail

A White House official announcement late Tuesday heralded news that Lee Rudofsky, a U.S. District Court judge in Little Rock, is no longer in the running for a promotion to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. It looks like Cody Hiland will be the nominee instead. Hiland joined the Arkansas Supreme Court as an appointee of Gov. Sarah Sanders in 2023 and was elected to the state’s highest court in 2026. Hiland served as chair of the Republican Party of Arkansas from 2022 until his appointment to the state Supreme Court. Rudofsky has been a federal judge in Little Rock since being appointed during the first Donald Trump administration in 2019. A conservative Federalist Society type, Rudofsky earned some infamy in 2022 when he issued a landmark ruling in Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP v.

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