The United States Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Florida. The confirmation passed narrowly by a vote of 53–46, marking another judicial victory for the Trump administration as it continues to shape the federal courts.
A Milestone in Trump’s Judicial Agenda
President Trump has placed a strong emphasis on judicial appointments during his time in office, continuing a strategy that began during his first term. The confirmation of Anne-Leigh Moe further solidifies his influence over the federal judiciary, particularly in a key swing state like Florida.
Trump celebrated the Senate’s decision with a post on Truth Social, describing Moe as a strong and principled advocate for law and order.
“I am pleased to announce the confirmation of Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida,” the president wrote. “Anne-Leigh has fiercely served the people of Florida as a Judge on the Second District Court of Appeal and as a Trial Judge in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. She will uphold LAW AND ORDER, unlike activist judges who put the safety of illegal criminals over the safety of Americans. Congratulations Anne-Leigh!”
The appointment was met with applause from Republican lawmakers who have championed Trump’s judicial selections as part of a broader effort to install conservative judges committed to strict constitutional interpretation and limited judicial activism.
Moe’s Legal and Judicial Background
Judge Moe brings more than two decades of experience to the federal bench. She has served on Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal since 2022 and previously spent nearly a decade as a circuit judge in Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, which includes Hillsborough County — one of the largest and most diverse jurisdictions in the state.
Former U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney, who went from the plains of Casper, Wyoming to a decades-long public career as a Republican congressman, defense secretary, White House chief of staff and one of the most powerful American vice presidents ever, has died at age 84, his family announced Tuesday.
“Richard B. Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, died last night, November 3, 2025. He was 84 years old. His beloved wife of 61 years, Lynne, his daughters, Liz and Mary, and other family members were with him as he passed,” his family said in a statement obtained by Fox News. “The former Vice President died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.”
“For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President of the United States,” the statement continued.
“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing,” his family said. “We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”
Vice President Dick Cheney in his West Wing office at the White House, Jan. 25, 2007, in Washington, D.C. (Charles Ommanney/Getty Images)
Cheney had a long history of cardiac problems, including five heart attacks. He received a heart transplant on March 24, 2012, at a Virginia hospital after nearly 21 months on a waiting list.
Cheney, who served as vice president for two terms under President George W. Bush, was one of the most powerful and controversial men ever to hold that position. He was a driving force behind America’s “war on terror,” including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also known for his penchant for secrecy. A hero to hawkish conservatives, he was a villain to liberals and Democrats. Hillary Clinton once compared him to Darth Vader.
Vice President Dick Cheney makes remarks to 4,000 Army soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division returning from duty in Iraq during a “Welcome Home Rally,” Oct. 16, 2006, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. (TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images)
In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he never expressed doubt about his support for indefinite detention for alleged terrorist prisoners or even about waterboarding.
“I feel very good about what we did,” he told Fox News in 2008. “If I was faced with those circumstances again, I’d do exactly the same thing.”
In May 2011, after the death of Osama bin Laden, Cheney called it a “very good day” for the U.S. but warned the country was “still at war” with terrorists and should not “let down our vigilance.”
After the election of Democratic President Barack Obama in 2008, Cheney, still a face of his party, became one of the new president’s most prominent critics, attacking his foreign policy and accusing him of being soft on terrorism.
In addition to his decades-long political career, Cheney also worked in the oil industry as chairman and chief executive officer of the Halliburton Company, from 1995 until he returned to politics in 2000.
A son of the American West, Richard Bruce Cheney was born January 30, 1941 in Lincoln, Nebraska, and grew up in Casper, Wyoming where he was captain of his high school football team and his future wife was a cheerleader. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Wyoming.
In 1968, he moved to Washington as a congressional fellow and in 1969 became a staff assistant in the Richard Nixon administration. From 1975 to 1977, he was chief of staff for Nixon’s successor, Gerald Ford.
Former President George W. Bush, right, shakes hands with former Vice President Dick Cheney after Cheney introduced Bush during the groundbreaking ceremony for the President George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/LM Otero, file)
In 1978, he was elected to the House of Representatives from Wyoming and served six two-year terms, rising to become minority whip. Cheney was popular in Congress, noted for his integrity and civility.
He next became Secretary of Defense under President George H. W. Bush, with the Senate confirming him unanimously, and served from 1989 to 1993.
After Bush failed to win re-election, Cheney went to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, and then to Halliburton.
Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Colin Powell, huddle prior to testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Thursday, Feb. 21,1991, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/John Duricka, file)
He was elected vice president in 2000 and 2004 on the ticket with George W. Bush and flourished as one of Bush’s inner circle of advisers on defense and foreign policy.
He also actively promoted expanding the powers of the presidency. In August 2011, he released a memoir, “In My Time.”
He is survived by Lynne Vincent, two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, and seven grandchildren.