Evan Rikhye, nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as a judge in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, was confirmed in a 52-47 vote of the U.S. Senate Wednesday that was split along party lines.
Rikhye is currently the senior counsel for Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas, and previously served as assistant United States Attorney on St. Croix from 2008 to 2011 and again from 2021 to 2024.
During his time in the territory he was involved in several high-profile prosecutions, including the Casino Control Commission fraud case against Violet Anne Golden and Stephanie Barnes, and the indictment of Davidson and Sasha Charlemagne in an alleged $4 million Housing and Urban Development fraud scheme.
Rikhye will fill the seat of Judge Wilma Lewis, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2011, confirmed that same year and served as chief judge from 2013 until April 2021. Lewis assumed senior status last February, which is a form of semiretirement that allows judges to reduce their caseload by as much as 25 percent and creates a vacancy on the bench.
Federal district court judges are appointed for 10-year terms, or until they resign or are impeached, according to the United States Courts.
Rikhye was born in 1971, in Boston, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993 from American University School of International Service and his Juris Doctor from American University Washington College of Law in 2001, according to his biography on Wikipedia.
“Evan has distinguished himself as a Federal Prosecutor, Department of Justice Attorney, and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Virgin Islands,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media site, when he nominated Rikhye in February.
“He will make an even better Judge! Throughout his career, Evan has demonstrated his commitment to the Rule of Law, and will always defend Liberty and Justice for ALL. Congratulations Evan!” Trump wrote.
According to his written response to questions in April from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including whether Trump lost the 2020 election, Rikhye responded, “As I stated during my confirmation hearing on March 25, 2026, there is a constitutional process for election of a President, which entails a vote by the electoral college and then certification by Congress. See U.S. Const. Art. II, § 1. President Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 election, and he served a 4-year term.”
Asked whether he believed that January 6 Capitol rioters who were convicted of violent assaults on police officers should have been given full and unconditional pardons, he replied, “Under Article II of the Constitution, the President has plenary authority to issue pardons. See U.S. Const. Art. II, § 2, cl. 1. As a judicial nominee, I believe it would be inconsistent with the Code of Conduct for United States Judges and relevant ethical canons for me to offer an opinion on the manner in which the President exercises this plenary authority.”
In response to a variety of other questions, including whether federal judges that Trump disagrees with are “USA HATING,” “MONSTERS” and “SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY,” as the president has written on Truth Social, Rikhye had much the same answer: “As a judicial nominee, I believe it would be contrary to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges and relevant ethical canons for me to opine on the comments of an elected official on a matter of public controversy and debate.”
It was much the same during Rikhye’s confirmation hearing along with two fellow judicial nominees, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) concluding, “The answers here are obviously canned, pre-rehearsed, Orwellian in their denial of reality, and are a subversion of this process. They are an insult to this committee, but they also fundamentally show a complete lack of independence, backbone, and impartiality, which are the fundamental requirements of a United States District Court judge or a judge on any panel.”
The date of Rikhye’s swearing-in has yet to be announced.
