Two veteran North Carolina prosecutors have been nominated for lifetime seats on the federal bench, with Philip L. Aubart tapped for the Middle District and Brian S. Meyers nominated for the Eastern District. The announcements came Thursday, and both men currently work within the Eastern District of North Carolina's federal legal system.
Senator Thom Tillis confirmed both nominations in a post on X, calling Aubart and Meyers “highly qualified attorneys who respect the rule of law and are committed to upholding the Constitution.” According to the senator, who thanked President Trump for the nominations, he is confident the two will “serve the people of North Carolina with integrity and distinction,” and he said he plans to work alongside Senator Thom Tillis
’s fellow North Carolina senator, Ted Budd, to push the nominations toward confirmation by the full Senate.
Aubart currently serves as First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina, according to a statement posted on trumpstruth.org. He previously worked in that office's Violent Crimes Section and is also a member of the U.S. Army JAG Corps, per the same statement, which lists him as a graduate of Dartmouth College and Duke University School of Law.
A Prosecutor's Path From Violent Crimes to the Bench
Aubart's swearing-in as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and member of the violent crime section was documented years earlier by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina
, which said he was sworn in by then-U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. That earlier post offers a window into the start of a career that has now led to a nomination for the Middle District bench.
Meyers, meanwhile, is already on the federal bench in a different capacity. He is currently serving as a magistrate judge on the Eastern District of North Carolina, the same court where he has now been nominated to serve as a district judge, according to the trumpstruth.org statement announcing his nomination.
More Than a Decade as a Federal Prosecutor
Before becoming a magistrate judge, Meyers spent more than a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the statement says. He also worked as an attorney in the U.S. Marine Corps, and holds degrees from Davidson College and the University of Richmond School of Law, per the same source.
A biography posted by the Eastern District of North Carolina states that Meyers was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge in October 2020, offering additional detail on the timeline of his judicial service before this latest nomination.
What Comes Next
Both nominations now head toward the Senate, where Tillis has said he intends to work with Budd to advance confirmation by the full chamber.
