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Justice Department official seeks to disqualify two Minnesota judges from immigration cases

CBS News reports that Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward asked judges Patrick Schiltz and John Tunheim to step aside, citing their comments to the New York Times.

Updated Oct 22, 2026 · 22:14 UTC3 reports

The short version

  • Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward filed motions seeking to disqualify Judges Patrick Schiltz and John Tunheim from two immigration cases.[CBS News]
  • The Justice Department argues that comments the judges made to the New York Times call their impartiality into question.[CBS News]
  • Judge Ana Reyes rejected a related Justice Department motion in a golf-course case, calling it a baseless effort built on selective quotations.[CBS News]
  • Ethics experts expect the motions will likely fail and say government-filed disqualification requests are rare.[CBS News]

Key facts

  • Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward filed motions on Tuesday seeking to disqualify Judges Patrick Schiltz and John Tunheim from two immigration cases.[CBS News]
  • The motions center on comments the two judges made to the New York Times about the administration's handling of immigration cases in Minnesota.[CBS News]
  • In the case overseen by Schiltz, the administration is seeking to strip a Minnesota man of U.S. citizenship.[CBS News]
  • In the case assigned to Tunheim, a South African national faces two charges of illegally voting in the 2024 election and has pleaded not guilty.[CBS News]
  • Woodward also moved over the weekend to disqualify Judge Ana Reyes from a Washington, D.C. case involving President Trump's effort to overhaul a historic public golf course.[CBS News]
  • Reyes rejected the Justice Department's effort on Sunday and accused the department of weaponizing selective quotations to bring a baseless recusal motion.[CBS News]
  • The Justice Department filed a judicial misconduct complaint last month against all but one federal judge in Minnesota, including Schiltz and Tunheim, over the Times article.[CBS News]

What remains uncertain

  • Whether the judges will grant the disqualification motions remains unresolved, and the outcome is not reported.[CBS News]
  • Experts' expectation that the efforts will likely fail is a prediction, not an established outcome.[CBS News]
  • The Justice Department's characterization of the judges' comments is disputed, and Reyes accused the department of relying on selective quotations.[CBS News]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.