Senate confirms Gregory Cook as federal judge for north Alabama

The U.S. Senate confirmed former Alabama Supreme Court Justice  Gregory Cook’s nomination to serve as a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Senators voted 49-27 to confirm the nomination, making Cook the latest Alabama Republican jurist elevated to the federal bench via presidential nomination.

Ahead of the Senate roll call vote on the nomination, U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Alabama, spoke before the Senate in favor of Cook’s confirmation.

“He truly embodies the very best of the great state of Alabama,” Britt said. “I have every faith and confidence that he will use everything in his being to make sure that he serves the people of the Northern District, and this nation to the very best of his ability.”

Britt, who campaigned with Cook during his bid for Alabama Supreme Court Justice, highlighted Cook’s past legal experience and public service, including in the U.S. Air Force.

“When you look at his resume, starting from growing up in the Shoals, where he was cemented core values of faith, family and freedom, going on into Duke University, and then Harvard Law School, and then having a very distinguished career in public service, which includes being a captain of the United States Air Force, in everything that Greg has done in life, he's done it to the best of his ability,” Britt said.

The confirmation was met with support from Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, who celebrated Cook's elevation to the federal bench in a Thursday social media post.

"Congratulations to Alabama Supreme Court Justice Greg Cook on his confirmation as U.S. District Judge! Ivey wrote. "I know he will continue serving our state and nation well."

Confirmation votes ran along party lines, with all nay votes coming from Democratic senators. 23 senators did not vote on the nomination.

U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Cook to the Northern District in June, and the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination in late September.

Cook was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2022, taking office in January 2023. Before joining the state’s high court, he spent three decades in private practice at Balch & Bingham and served as general counsel for the Alabama Republican Party.

Ahead of the Senate Judiciary hearing on Cook’s nomination, nonprofit Reproductive Freedom for All “strongly opposed” his confirmation, citing Cook’s support for the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and membership in pro-life organizations including the Federalist Society and the Christian Legal Society.

The Northern District of Alabama includes federal courthouses in Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Anniston, Decatur, Florence and Gadsden. The court hears federal civil and criminal cases across north Alabama, including constitutional claims, public corruption cases, business disputes and federal prosecutions.

The seat filled by Cook opened on January 1, when U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor, who served as chief judge of the Northern District from 2024 to 2026, assumed senior status. Former President George W. Bush nominated Proctor to the bench in 2003.