Mike Davis

Personal details

Name

Mike Davis (attorney and political-legal advocate)

Personal background

Public sources reviewed do not reliably establish complete birth date or spouse/children details

Education

Attorney; specific degrees withheld pending original school/Bar verification

Congressional staff

Chief counsel for nominations to Senate Judiciary chair Chuck Grassley

Organizations

Founder/president Article III Project; founder and managing partner MRD Law; leads Internet Accountability Project

Work

Judicial confirmation campaigns, legal advocacy, public commentary, amicus briefs and federal appointments advice

2026

Advocacy for remaining lame-duck federal judicial confirmations in November 2026

Law, congressional nominations and confirmation strategy

Mike Davis is an attorney and Republican legal activist who served as chief counsel for nominations to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley during the first Trump administration. His work involved organizing hearing preparation, nominee vetting, coordination and floor votes during the nominations of federal judges and executive officials. ^[1]

According to his organization, Davis helped staff 30 committee hearings and 41 markup meetings and oversaw votes on 278 nominees, including Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. These are advocacy organization's reported staff performance statistics, not a claim he personally appointed each judge. ^[1]

Article III Project founding and methods

In 2019 Davis established the Article III Project (A3P), an advocacy organization devoted to promoting and defending judicial nominees who share conservative originalist and textualist approaches. A3P engages in media, grassroots campaigns and legal briefs. Its own website describes aggressive messaging aimed at opponents of its preferred judicial selections. ^[1]

The organization claims support for nominations of Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett and for more than 230 lower-court judges. Those confirmation results were formally decided by the Senate; the group provided outside political advocacy, not a government vote or judicial nomination power. ^[1]

Related legal organizations and Trump support

Davis is also founder and managing partner of MRD Law, and leads the Internet Accountability Project, which campaigns around the power and obligations of large technology platforms. These are legal/business or issue-advocacy organizations with distinct purposes and legal status. ^[1]

In April 2025 he gave an extended on-camera interview for PBS Frontline concerning Trump's relationship with prosecutors, the courts and the rule of law. Davis defended the president's legal positions and strongly criticized the prior administration's prosecutions. Those are his political/legal interpretations, not factual findings by PBS or a court. ^[2]

2025 DOJ commentary, 2026 Senate judicial confirmation efforts

On April 2, 2025 A3P published Davis's public endorsement of Trump nominees Stanley Woodward and Elliot Gaiser for senior Justice Department posts, citing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Publicly advocating a DOJ nominee is not proof Davis directed prosecutorial cases inside the department. ^[3]

In an November 7, 2026 A3P essay Davis pressed the outgoing Senate Republican majority to confirm remaining Trump judicial nominees before Democrats assumed control January 3, 2027. He named specific circuit nominations and described a strategic objective of filling vacancies before a change of chamber leadership. His political argument and the Senate's actual nomination/confirmation records are separate sources. ^[4]

Documented connections and original records

Davis's primary direct links are Senator Chuck Grassley (former employer and Judiciary chairman), Trump (judicial nominee advocacy), Bondi and Blanche (public DOJ endorsement context), and Article III Project, MRD Law and Internet Accountability Project (leadership). ^{[1] [3]}

Links to the wider Story are political and institutional rather than undocumented command chains. The original Story remains unchanged.

Nominations process and 2026 Article III advocacy

Article III Project identifies Davis as former chief counsel for nominations to Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley. The organization credits his nomination team with 30 nomination hearings, 41 committee markups and floor work on 278 nominees. These figures are the organization's description of staff coordination; a Senate employee does not independently nominate or confirm federal judges. ^[5]

Davis founded the Article III Project in 2019 and is founder/managing partner of MRD Law; he also leads the Internet Accountability Project. The organizations' public positions include judicial nomination advocacy, Big Tech policy and law practice, but their governing structures and funding are not necessarily identical. ^[5]

In a November 7, 2026 essay, Davis argued that Republicans should seek confirmation votes for 23 pending judges—four appellate and 19 district nominees—before the new Senate term in January 2027. These are his stated figures and advocacy, not an official Senate vote schedule. ^[6]

Where this subject appears in The Story

References

1. Article III Project organizational biography of Mike Davis and 2019 founding
2. PBS Frontline April 4 2025 original extended Mike Davis interview
3. Article III Project April 2 2025 DOJ leadership nominations statement
4. Article III Project November 7 2026 lame-duck Senate judicial appointments op-ed
5. Article III Project Davis organization and Senate nomination biography
6. Article III Project Nov 7 2026 Davis judicial confirmation essay