Aileen Cannon

Cannon heard the case of Trump v. United States, which began on August 22, 2022, when former U.S. president Trump asked the court to appoint a special master to review materials seized during the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago earlier that month. On August 27, before hearing argument from the Justice Department, Cannon declared her "preliminary intent" to appoint a special master. Two days later, the Justice Department told Cannon it had already completed its review of materials that may fall under attorney–client privilege. Cannon granted Trump's request for a special master to review the seized materials. In the same order, she ordered the Justice Department to stop using the seized material in its investigation until the special master's review is complete or until a further court order. The government requested that Cannon allow their investigation into seized classified-marked documents to continue, and to exempt such documents from the special master's review, which Cannon rejected on September 15.

In May 2020, Cannon was nominated to become a federal district judge by President Donald Trump. The American Bar Association rated Cannon as "Qualified" for the position. While being vetted by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Cannon described her judicial philosophy as originalist and textualist.

On November 12, 2020, the United States Senate confirmed Cannon by a 56–21 vote. Cannon assumed the position left vacant by judge Kenneth Marra. She received her judicial commission on November 13, 2020.

From 2013 to 2020, Cannon was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. As a federal prosecutor, Cannon worked in the major crimes division, which included working on drug, firearm, and immigration cases, then moved to the appellate division, working on convictions and sentencings.

Cannon served as a law clerk for Steven Colloton, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Iowa. From 2009 to 2012, she worked for the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Washington D.C., as an associate attorney.

Cannon married Josh Lorence, a restaurant executive, in 2008. They have two children and live in Vero Beach, Florida as of 2022. Cannon is a registered Republican.

Cannon graduated from Duke University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts. In college, she studied for a semester in Spain and wrote for El Nuevo Herald. In 2007, Cannon graduated from the University of Michigan Law School with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude. Cannon has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2005, when she was a law student.

Aileen Mercedes Cannon (born 1981) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Cannon was born in 1981 in Cali, Colombia. Her mother had fled Cuba as a girl, after the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, while her father is from Indiana. Cannon grew up in Miami, Florida, where she attended Ransom Everglades School.