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Matthew Schwartz
Nominated Trump 2.0
Nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
On April 10, 2026, President Trump nominated Matthew Schwartz to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
View/download the fact sheet here.
View/download the report here.
View/download the letter of opposition here.
Biography
Schwartz received a B.A. from Princeton University in 2000 and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2003.
Legal Experience
Schwartz spent a summer as an associate at Cravath, Swain & Moore in 2002. After graduating from law school, he clerked for then-Judge Samuel Alito on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He then returned to Cravath in 2004 as an associate. In 2006, he again clerked for Justice Alito after his appointment to the Supreme Court. After finishing his clerkship, Schwartz joined his current firm, Sullivan & Cromwell, where he became a partner in 2012.
Key Facts and Context
Professional and Legal Associations
Federalist Society Madison Club Member (highest-level annual donor) (2017-2020, 2023-present); Federalist Society (2000-2008, 2017-2019, 2023-present); (Attorney Grievance Committee, Appellate Division First Department (2025-present); American Jewish Medical Association (2025-present); Judges & Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert (2021-present); New York State Bar Association, Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct (2017-present); Heathcote Association (2014-present); American Bar Association (2016-2019); New York City Bar Association, Committee on Professional Ethics (2015-2018); Federal Bar Council (2008-2020)
- Schwartz has represented President Trump in a personal capacity on numerous occasions, including in the appeal of his conviction for falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels
- Schwartz also defended Elon Musk’s unprecedented and egregious $50 billion compensation package from Tesla
- In Emigrant Mortg. Co. v. Saint-Jean (2025), Schwartz defended Emigrant Mortgage Company’s practice of targeting Black and Latino families with predatory loans (reverse redlining)
- Schwartz wrote an amicus brief in Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024) defending cities’ right to criminalize homelessness and impose fines on individuals who have no choice but to sleep on public property
- While at Princeton, Schwartz wrote several inflammatory articles in the Princeton Tory, including an article where he vehemently opposed a same-sex marriage held at the Princeton Chapel and suggested that same-sex marriages provide no benefits to society