Who is Kyle Reardon and why did Trump nominate him for Alaska federal judgeship?

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Aug. 20, 2026 – President Donald Trump has selected Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, moving to fill a seat left vacant for more than two years after the scandal-driven resignation of former Judge Joshua Kindred.

Trump announced Reardon’s nomination Tuesday as part of a slate of nine federal judicial picks across six states.

“I have wonderful news for the Great State of Alaska — I am honored to nominate Kyle Reardon to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Alaska,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Kyle is currently a Magistrate Judge on the Federal Court in Alaska, and previously worked for many years as a Federal Prosecutor in Alaska and California, and as a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Army JAG Corps,” Trump continued. “The people of Alaska are lucky to have a Public Servant and Patriot like Kyle on the Bench. Congratulations Kyle!”

Reardon would replace Kindred, another Trump appointee, who resigned in July 2024 after a federal judicial investigation found that he had engaged in an inappropriate sexualized relationship with one of his law clerks and created a hostile working environment for court employees.

Kindred’s resignation left Alaska with only two active federal district judges, Sharon Gleason and Matthew Scoble. Visiting and senior judges have filled in to manage the state’s federal caseload since then.

Reardon, who is based in Anchorage, has served as a federal magistrate judge since October 2021. The court elevated him to chief magistrate judge in September 2025 for a four-year term.

His résumé shows more than 25 years of legal experience, including 15 years as a federal prosecutor and six years as an Army lawyer.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from Centre College in Kentucky in 1993, he received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1999.

He entered the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps after law school. Reardon served as a trial counsel at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he advised a brigade commander and handled military justice matters involving approximately 1,500 soldiers.

He later became senior trial counsel for the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in Germany, supervising and training 17 junior prosecutors in what his résumé describes as the Army’s busiest court-martial jurisdiction.

From 2003 to 2005, Reardon served as command judge advocate for Special Operations Command Europe in Stuttgart, Germany. His work included advising the command on operations connected to the Global War on Terror, security for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the Pan-Sahel Initiative in Africa.

After leaving active-duty military service, Reardon clerked for the US District Court for the Eastern District of California before becoming an assistant US attorney there in 2007.

During more than seven years as a federal prosecutor in California, he handled sex-trafficking, child-exploitation, immigration and fraud cases. He also served as the office’s Project Safe Childhood coordinator and taught Justice Department courses on investigating and prosecuting online child exploitation and sex-trafficking crimes.

Reardon moved to Alaska in 2014 and joined the US Attorney’s Office in Anchorage. He prosecuted more than 100 child-exploitation, firearms, drug and fraud cases, tried nine felony cases and argued appeals before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

He became the Alaska office’s senior litigation counsel in 2018 and deputy criminal chief in March 2021, supervising eight assistant US attorneys before moving to the magistrate bench later that year.

As a magistrate judge, Reardon has handled civil-rights cases, habeas petitions, commercial disputes, Social Security appeals, environmental litigation and admiralty matters. His criminal duties include initial appearances, arraignments, detention and preliminary hearings, search-warrant applications and misdemeanor cases.

Reardon has also led the court’s civic-education outreach efforts and serves on the 9th Circuit Wellness Committee. Outside the courthouse, he has volunteered with the Alyeska and Denali ski patrols and with Anchorage schools and youth sports programs.

Reardon’s path through the Senate appears unusually smooth, at least by recent standards.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who usually withholds immediate support for Trump nominees, saying she must first examine their qualifications and interview them, quickly issued a glowing endorsement of Reardon.

“I am pleased that Kyle Reardon has been nominated to serve as a United States District Judge for the District of Alaska,” Murkowski wrote. “Kyle brings extensive knowledge of both our state and our court system to the federal bench, having served the District of Alaska as a federal prosecutor and U.S. Magistrate Judge, a position he has held in Alaska for the past five years. His extensive experience, professionalism, and judicial temperament make him exceptionally well-qualified for this role.”

While Murkowski’s endorsement came quickly after Trump’s announcement, Reardon was not new to her vetting process. He submitted a formal application to her office in February 2025, writing that his experience and familiarity with Alaska’s federal courts would allow him to “serve effectively from the moment of confirmation.” His application and résumé were later publicly released with those of other candidates.

Even so, Murkowski’s immediate enthusiasm stands out after her repeated opposition to prominent Trump picks. She voted against appellate nominees Emil Bove and Justin Smith and, just this month, opposed Trump’s nomination of Todd Blanche for attorney general.

Sen. Dan Sullivan said he worked closely with the White House to secure Reardon’s nomination.

“I want to congratulate Kyle Reardon on being nominated to serve on the federal bench for the District of Alaska,” Sullivan said. “Kyle has a strong background of public service in the law and the military, serving with distinction in the U.S. Army as a trial counsel and a judge advocate, as a federal prosecutor in California and Alaska, and most recently as a federal magistrate judge.”

Sullivan also thanked Trump and White House officials for working with his office on the selection.

With both of Alaska’s senators already supporting him, Reardon is unlikely to encounter the kind of home-state opposition that can derail a district-court nominee. His existing judicial service, extensive prosecutorial background and military record should also make him one of Trump’s less contentious nominees.

Reardon must still receive a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee and win confirmation from the full Senate. If confirmed, he will receive a lifetime appointment to Alaska’s federal district court.

The timing could be tight. The Senate has a limited number of working days remaining before the Nov. 3 midterm election. Trump’s latest judicial nominees may not reach final confirmation votes until the lame-duck session later this year.