Justice Cody Hiland Publicly Criticizes The President For Nominating Him To District Court Instead of Eighth Circuit

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Cite

Blackman, J. (2026, November 9). Justice Cody Hiland Publicly Criticizes The President For Nominating Him To District Court Instead of Eighth Circuit. Reason. https://reason.com/volokh/2026/11/09/justice-cody-hiland-publicly-criticizes-the-president-for-nominating-him-to-district-court-instead-of-eighth-circuit/

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Reason · collected 2026-11-09 · by Josh Blackman

Quick Summary

President Trump nominated Justice Cody Hiland of the Arkansas Supreme Court for a federal district court seat instead of the Eighth Circuit after Hiland refused an earlier Eighth Circuit nomination and publicly disclosed this exchange with the White House Counsel to law students, criticizing the change in offer. This incident highlights concerns over Hiland’s judgment and integrity, given his decision to broadcast private communications on social media.
Written by AI on 2026-11-10, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Justice Cody Hiland publicly criticized President Trump for nominating him to a district court position instead of an Eighth Circuit seat, expressing his disappointment in an assertive manner. According to Reason Magazine on November 9, 2026, Justice Hiland stated that he wanted someone to tell the president he was rejecting the opportunity to be appointed to the federal bench. The President had previously nominated Justice James Sullivan for a WDTX seat and Elliot Gaiser for an NDTX seat in Texas, but these nominations have not been officially posted on Truth Social. Republican Senators are expected to vote on these nominees over the next six weeks, while Democratic Senators may try to delay or block their confirmation. Additionally, Judge Anna St. John's nomination to the Fifth Circuit and Judge Daniel Domenico's nomination to the Tenth Circuit remain pending.

Written for “Justice Cody Hiland Criticizes Nomination Decision” on 2026-11-11, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence medium
Leaning: leans left for article 139280 (medium confidence, 3 verified quotes) · logged 2026-11-10

Story

Justice Cody Hiland Criticizes Nomination Decision
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 2% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Trump calls on Senate to confirm remaining 25 judges amid Arkansas senator friction Different event
Washington Examiner
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses Justice Cody Hiland criticizing his nomination by President Trump to a District Court position, while Article B focuses on Trump urging Senate confirmation of multiple judges before Republicans lose their majority.”
Trump nominates 3 more federal judges as Senate mulls lame duck plans Different event
Just The News
Leans right further right than this Hedges 0 of 8 claims Outlet record 95/100
“Article A discusses Justice Cody Hiland criticizing a nomination scenario while Article B talks about Trump nominating three federal judges, which are different events.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
87
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
2%
2 of 87 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
67/100
Reason's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-10 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Josh Blackman
97 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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I have known both of these sharp legal minds for some time, and would welcome their addition to the bench.
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"The loudest voices that people hear are these megachurches, and they think that's what we're all doing," said the Rev. Janet Maykus.
2026-11-09 · assertive framing · Talarico's Christianity
It is expected that, at some point, she will resign her U.S. senate seat, then take up the governor's position, and subsequently make a temporary appointment to fill her then-vacant senate seat.
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Those outcomes will get a lot of attention.
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And Kagan spared California the fate that befell Missouri, which had to file a pointless brief that no one would read.
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I thought it might be worthwhile to dig into the numbers a bit more.
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Today the law firm of Weil Gotshal announced that it would wind down.
2026-10-28 · assertive framing · Farewell to Weil
And her unwillingness to participate in any disciplinary proceedings suggests something is amiss.
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 97 articles by Josh Blackman →

Topics

Texas White House the Eighth Circuit the Texas Supreme Court the White House

Subjects

Hiland PERSON · 4× the Eighth Circuit ORG · 4× White House ORG · 3× FBI ORG · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× the White House ORG · 2× James Sullivan PERSON · 1× Texas GPE · 1× WDTX ORG · 1× the Texas Supreme Court ORG · 1×

Narrative

He said, "So you want me to go back into the Oval Office and tell the President of the United States that you're rejecting an opportunity to be appointed to the federal bench, and I said, "Yes, that's exactly what I want you to tell the president of the United States."
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-10
I have known both of these sharp legal minds for some time, and would welcome their addition to the bench.
2026-11-10 · Reason
Justice Cody Hiland Publicly Criticizes The President For Nominating Him To District Court Instead of Eighth Circuit · assertive framing

Claims (87 extracted, 2 hedged)

We are coming into the endgame for President Trump's judicial nominees. asserted
We → come → nominees
Since the election, it seems the President has made (at least) two nominations to the federal bench in Texas: Justice James Sullivan of the Texas Supreme Court for the WDTX seat in Austin and OLC Head Elliot Gaiser for the NDTX seat in Dallas. asserted
President → seem → Dallas
I say "seems" because the President has not posted these nominations to Truth Social, as that makes it official. asserted
it → say → Social
But the Senate Judiciary Committee has received questionnaires for both candidates. asserted
Committee → receive → candidates
I have known both of these sharp legal minds for some time, and would welcome their addition to the bench. asserted
I → know → bench
Will Sullivan and Gaiser get votes? asserted
Sullivan → get → votes
I sure hope so. asserted
I → hope → ?
Over the next six weeks, Republican Senators will need to be motived to vote, while Democrat Senators will pull out every stop to leave these seats open. asserted
Senators → need → seats
Plus, there is an entire line of other nominees who are still waiting for votes. asserted
who → be → votes
Judge Anna St. John's nomination to the Fifth Circuit and Judge Daniel Domenico's nomination to the Tenth Circuit are pending. asserted
nomination → pende → Circuit
They had their hearings some time ago, and should get through. asserted
They → have → hearings
Todd Butler has not even had his hearing yet, so he is down the pecking order. asserted
he → have → order
Then there is Judge Lee Rudofksy, a nominee to the Eighth Circuit, who had his hearing back in September. asserted
who → be → September
Yet, both of the Arkansas Senators are blocking Rudofsky's nomination. asserted
both → block → nomination
They prefer Justice Cody Hiland, a member of the Arkansas Supreme Court. asserted
They → prefer → Court
He has demonstrated absolutely terrible judgment which should permanently disqualify him from holding any public office. asserted
which → demonstrate → office
In August, he decided to disclose to a room full of law students private communications between him and the White House Counsel. asserted
he → decide → him
Worse, rather than teaching students about the value of grace, he promoting belligerence and vindictiveness. asserted
he → teach → belligerence
In short, the White House approached Hiland about a nomination to the Eighth Circuit. asserted
House → approach → Circuit
After the vetting process, the White House changed course, and offered Hiland a seat on the federal district court. asserted
House → change → court
Hiland refused, and told the White House Counsel to tell President Trump about it. asserted
Hiland → refuse → it
He said all of this on a livestream. asserted
He → say → livestream
You can watch it here, starting around the 16:45 mark: asserted
You → watch → mark
And I've transcribed the comments for those who prefer to read: asserted
who → transcribe → those
The second thing I want to talk about is you're going to have to learn to be resilient, and maybe this far in your career, maybe it's been easy for you. asserted
it → want → you
I don't know, but you're going to have to learn how to be knocked down and then get back up, and then also not to be intimidated. asserted
you → know → ?
Resiliency is something that is going to carry with you the rest of your career. asserted
that → go → career
Now, I'm going to tell you a story that just happened to me because resilience matters even at this point in a career. asserted
resilience → go → career
So, you you want to hear a backstory on something? asserted
you → want → something
Nobody ever gets to hear backstories. asserted
Nobody → get → backstories
I'm going to give you a backstory. asserted
I → go → backstory
So, about two months ago, I was contacted about being appointed by the president to the Eighth Circuit. asserted
I → contact → Circuit
Okay, I had senators who asked me to do it. asserted
who → have → it
And the call said, "You know what? asserted
You → say → what
We're going to recommend that the president appoints you to the Eighth Circuit, and so they started a background check. asserted
they → go → check
The FBI goes out, and if you've ever served in these capacities, you know that there's a full field investigation that takes place. asserted
that → go → place
And select 12 or 13 agents just investigate you for about six weeks. asserted
agents → investigate → weeks
And in this case, they ask them to finish it in two weeks because they wanted to get it done, and so the FBI went out and they talked to over 130 people about me and my life. asserted
they → ask → me
And when Dean Crawford is talking about social media, you know that sort of thing matters, okay? asserted
sort → talk → thing
Because they go back to the time that you're 18 and they talk to everybody you've ever leased from. asserted
you → go → everybody
…and 47 more, not listed.
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