The Court of International Trade on June 23 proposed amendments to various of its practice rules and forms following recommendations from the court's Advisory Committee on Rules.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 24 appointed a new member to its Advisory Council. Jennifer Wu, a patent attorney and partner at Groombridge Wu, will sit on the council for a three-year term, effective June 30. The Advisory Council reviews, studies and makes recommendations regarding the Federal Circuit Rules of Practice and Internal Operating Procedures of the court. It serves as a "conduit between the public and the court regarding the court's procedural rules," the court said.

Stephen Vaden, current judge on the Court of International Trade, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as deputy secretary of agriculture. The Senate confirmed Vaden with a 51-44 vote split exactly down party lines. Five senators -- Ted Budd, R-N.C., Jon Ossoff, R-Ga., Thom Tillis R-N.C., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., -- didn't take part in the vote.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will launch a new caption-generation utility for filers May 27, the court announced. The new feature will let parties easily generate "the most up-to-date version of the case caption." It will be found under the Utilities tab on the landing screen after logging into CM/ECF, the court said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week removed a former Lebanon-based small business owner from its Specially Designated Nationals List after he sued the Treasury Department over his designation in December, arguing that OFAC unfairly delayed a decision on his delisting request.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts began on May 11 implementing multifactor authentication to boost security for the CM/ECF and PACER systems. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit told CM/ECF users to enroll in multifactor authentication "at their earliest convenience," adding that users who don't voluntarily enroll in the program will be "randomly selected for mandatory enrollment starting in August 2025." All users must be enrolled to maintain access to the CM/ECF system by Dec. 31, 2025, though multifactor authentication will be optional for PACER-only access.

The Court of International Trade's Pay.gov system will undergo maintenance May 17, 6 to 10 p.m. EDT, the court said. Documents requiring this service can't be filed on CM/ECF at this time.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's Clerk's Office and Circuit Library will be temporarily closed for public services and support from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST on April 25, the court said. Nonelectronic filings can be submitted to the court's night drop box on H Street NW in Washington, and electronic filing will remain available.

The Court of International Trade's Pay.gov system will undergo maintenance on April 12 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT, the court said. The court noted that documents requiring payment through Pay.gov can't be filed on CM/ECF during the time of the maintenance.

Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 8 pressed Stephen Vaden, nominee for USDA deputy secretary, on how President Donald Trump's slew of tariff action will impact USDA and agriculture issues.