Jeannette Vargas

Jeannette A. Vargas
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 6, 2024
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byPaul G. Gardephe
Personal details
BornJeannette Anne Vargas
1973 (age 52–53)
Flushing, Queens, New York, U.S.
EducationHarvard College (BA)
Yale University (JD)

Jeannette Anne Vargas (born 1973)[1][2] is an American lawyer who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York since 2024. She previously served as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York from 2002 to 2024.

Education

Vargas earned a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1995 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2000.[3]

Career

From 2000 to 2001, Vargas worked as an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City. From 2001 to 2002, she was a law clerk for Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From 2002 to 2024, she served as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. In that role, from 2010 to 2014, she served as chief of the Tax and Bankruptcy Unit, from 2014 to 2016, she was senior trial counsel and she served as deputy chief in the Civil Division from 2016 to 2024.[3]

Federal judicial service

Vargas was recommended to the Biden administration by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.[4] On March 20, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Vargas to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[3] On March 21, 2024, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Vargas to the seat vacated by Judge Paul G. Gardephe, who assumed senior status on August 9, 2023.[5] On April 17, 2024, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[6] On May 9, 2024, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote.[7] On September 10, 2024, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–43 vote.[8] Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 51–43 vote.[9] She received her judicial commission on November 6, 2024.[10]

Notable rulings

DOGE ruling

In response to a February 2025 lawsuit filed by Attorney General Letitia James of New York, Vargas issued an injunction prohibiting DOGE from accessing Treasury systems.[11]

On April 11, 2025 she decided in favor of the Trump administration. The New York Times wrote: "Judge Vargas acknowledged that her preliminary injunction had been ordered in part because of what the court identified as issues with the Treasury’s “hasty implementation and gaps in training” for the DOGE team members.

"However, 'based on existing record,' Judge Vargas wrote that the mitigation, training and vetting procedures that the government has detailed in its filings are adequate to satisfy her concerns."[12]

Drake-Kendrick Lamar defamation case

Main articles: Drake–Kendrick Lamar feud and Not Like Us § Legal actions

In 2024, rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar—who were both signed to the same record company, Universal Music Group (UMG)—exchanged aggressive diss tracks. In particular, Lamar's "Not Like Us" described Drake as a "certified pedophile." Drake sued UMG for defamation, alleging that Lamar's accusations were false and that UMG knew they were false, but boosted the visibility of Lamar's accusations to make money at Drake's expense.[13][14] In October 2025, Judge Vargas granted UMG's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. She held that New York State defamation law disfavored legal liability for statements of opinion and would not allow Drake to sue UMG for publishing and amplifying Lamar’s opinion.[15][16] She concluded that in context, Lamar's lyrics were opinions, even if they were worded similarly to factual assertions, as a reasonable listener would understand that rap battles are not "fact-checked verifiable content." For support, she noted that Drake had previously dared Lamar to accuse him in "Taylor Made Freestyle", and had also accused Lamar of domestic violence. She dismissed Drake's argument that some social media commenters thought Lamar was stating facts, because "[i]n a world in which billions of people are active online, support for almost any proposition, no matter how farfetched, fantastical or unreasonable, can be found with little effort."[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Announces Appointments in Civil Division" (PDF) (Press release). U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. September 9, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "President Biden Names Forty-Seventh Round of Judicial Nominees and Announces One New Nominee to Serve as U.S. Marshal" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ "Gillibrand Announces Her Recommendation For U.S. District Court For The Southern District Of New York, Jeannette Vargas, Has Been Nominated By President Biden" (Press release). Senator Gillibrand Press Release Office. March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  5. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. March 21, 2024.
  6. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. April 16, 2024.
  7. ^ "Senate Judiciary Committee Advances the Protecting Older Americans Act, Four Judicial Nominations to the Full Senate" (Press release). United States Senate Judiciary Committee. May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  8. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Jeannette A. Vargas, of New York, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York)". United States Senate. September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  9. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Jeannette A. Vargas, of New York, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York)". United States Senate. September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  10. ^ Jeannette Vargas at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  11. ^ Meko, Hurubie (2025-02-22). "Federal Judge Banishes Musk's DOGE Aides From Treasury Dept. Systems". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-23.
  12. ^ Meko, Hurubie (2025-04-11). "Judge Says One DOGE Member Can Access Sensitive Treasury Dept. Data". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  13. ^ "Drake's Lawyers Cite Kendrick's Halftime Show in Defamation Lawsuit Over 'Not Like Us'".
  14. ^ Monroe, Jazz (2025-01-15). "Drake Federally Sues Universal Music Group Over Kendrick Lamar's "Defamatory" Diss Song "Not Like Us"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  15. ^ "Judge Dismisses Drake's Lawsuit Over Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us'". The New York Times. 2025-10-09. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  16. ^ "Drake's lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar diss track Not Like Us is dismissed". www.bbc.com. 2025-10-10. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  17. ^ Vargas, Jeannette (2025-10-09). "Opinion and Order: Aubrey Drake Graham v. UMG Recordings, Inc" (PDF). CourtListener. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
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