Feb 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced four new judicial nominees, including a White House lawyer tapped to fill a vacancy on a key court that would be involved in hearing lawsuits by companies seeking refunds if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against the legality of his sweeping global tariffs.
Trump highlighted the nomination of Kara Westercamp to the U.S. Court of International Trade in one of a series of social media posts in which he also unveiled three other new judicial nominees in Montana, South Carolina and the Virgin Islands.
Westercamp, an associate counsel in the White House, had previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice. Trump hailed her as a "very experienced Trade Lawyer" involved with "defending our historic and popular America First Agenda."
Trump also nominated Katie Lane, a lawyer at the Republican National Committee, to serve as a district court judge in Montana, where she had previously served as a deputy solicitor general. Trump said that in her role at the RNC she had played a "critical role in stopping Voter Fraud."
In South Carolina, Trump nominated Nelson Mullins partner Sheria Clarke to a district court judgeship. Trump noted she previously served as chief counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and counsel on the U.S. House Select Committee on the Events in Benghazi, Libya.
Trump also nominated federal prosecutor Evan Rikhye to serve a 10-year term on the U.S. District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands, a territorial court.
If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Westercamp would become a life-tenured member of a nine-member specialist court tasked with hearing cases arising under U.S. trade laws, including lawsuits concerning tariffs and duties collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
"Kara knows the Wisdom and Courage required to protect the American People, who have been ripped off by other Countries for far too long," Trump said. "She will always put America First."
Hundreds of companies including Costco, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Revlon have in recent weeks filed a wave of lawsuits before the court challenging Trump's sweeping tariffs and seeking refunds on duties paid in anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court declaring them unlawful.
A three-judge panel of that court in May blocked most of Trump's tariffs in a sweeping ruling that found the president overstepped his authority. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld that decision in August, which the U.S. Supreme Court is now reviewing.
Trump, in response to the initial ruling in May, in a social media post on Truth Social questioned "where these initial three Judges come from" and blasted its ruling as "so wrong, and so political."
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston