Story highlights Trump picked four conservative judges for the court, including lawyer who argued Hobby Lobby case

5th Circuit has a majority of GOP-nominated judges

Don Willett is known for his active Twitter account

Washington (CNN) The White House will announce four nominees for the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, a conservative-leaning court that has ruled against key Obama-era initiatives, including on immigration, two sources tell CNN.

The four are: Texas Supreme Court Justice Don R. Willett; Kyle Duncan, a private lawyer and former general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; Kurt D. Engelhardt, currently the chief judge of the Eastern District of Louisiana; and former Texas Solicitor General James C. Ho.

The court, which handles cases from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, has 17 active judges, a majority of whom were nominated by Republican presidents. The appeals court was a thorn in the side of the Obama administration at times, ruling against the former President, for example on his controversial executive actions on immigration. The court was also reversed by the Supreme Court when the justices threw out a Texas abortion law in 2016.

Leonard Leo, who took a leave from the conservative Federalist Society to help advise the President on a list of potential judges to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, praised the latest slate of judges saying they are "held in very high regard by scholars and practicing lawyers across the country."

"Texas Justice Don Willett and Louisiana attorney and professor Kyle Duncan, in particular, embody President Trump's commitment to picking judges who have a record of excellence and a commitment to a judicial role that is impartial rather than committed to a particular personal or legal agenda," he said in a statement.

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