Matthew Byrne

On May 27, 2026, President Trump nominated Matthew Byrne to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

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Biography 

Born in 1981 in Evansville, Indiana, Byrne attended Xavier University from 2000 to 2003, graduating with a B.A. in 2003. He then attended The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law from 2004 to 2007, where he earned his J.D. in 2007.

Legal Experience

After graduating from law school, Byrne worked as an associate at Taft Stettinius & Hollister from 2007 to 2010. He then moved to Jackson Lewis, where he worked as an associate and later as of counsel for ten years. In 2020, Byrne was elected to his current role as a judge on the Ohio Twelfth District Court of Appeals. Byrne also serves as the court’s elected administrative judge. During his time on the court, Byrne has served as a member of the Ohio Supreme Court’s Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure.

Key Facts & Context

• Has been a member of the Federalist Society for over two decades and served as the president of the Cincinnati Lawyers Chapter from 2014-2019.

• In a 2026 custody decision, Byrne intentionally misgendered and deadnamed a child and stated there was “no need to unquestioningly and support [a] minor child[’s] claims of transsexual identity or preferred pronouns.”

• During an appearance at a 2021 Federalist Society conference, Byrne used the term “transgenderism,” which has been defined as an anti-LGBTQ hate term by GLAAD.

• From 2015 to 2020, served as a member of the advisory board for Pregnancy Center East, an anti-abortion pregnancy crisis center in Ohio.

• While serving as a visiting judge on the Ohio Supreme Court, Byrne dissented from the Court’s decision to keep a stay in place on Ohio’s 2023 six-week abortion ban.