State judicial service

Pittman was a judge on the State's 352nd District Court, based in Tarrant County. In 2017, he was appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to be a justice of Texas's Second Court of Appeals.^[3][5] He served in that capacity until he was appointed a federal judge in 2019.

Federal judicial service

On January 16, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Pittman to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. On January 17, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Pittman to a seat vacated by John H. McBryde, who assumed senior status on October 9, 2018.^[6] On March 5, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.^[7] On April 4, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.^[8] On July 30, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 54–34 vote.^[9] On July 31, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 54–36 vote.^[10] He received his judicial commission on August 5, 2019.^[11] He was sworn into office on August 8, 2019.^[12]

Notable rulings

On November 8, 2021, Pittman ruled that United Airlines could impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on its employees while only providing unpaid leave for exempted workers.^[13]

On January 6, 2022, Pittman ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review, redact, and release data submitted by COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Pfizer for authorized use of the vaccine at an unprecedented rate. The data came from a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to FDA for documents beyond what was already publicly available on FDA's website as part of the approved vaccine's Action Package. Although the pace of the scheduling order required FDA to hire an additional team of contractors and expend roughly $5 million solely to comply with this FOIA request, Pittman ordered FDA to release documents at a faster pace, including at least 55,000 pages some months and at least 80,000 pages other months.^[14]

On November 10, 2022, Pittman ruled that the Biden administration did not have the authority to forgive student loan debt through executive action through the HEROES Act.^[15]

In December 2022, Pittman ruled that Texas' law banning people from 18 to 20 years of age from carrying concealed handguns was unconstitutional in light of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.^[16]

In March 2024, Pittman ruled that the Minority Business Development Agency was wrong to consider historic discrimination based on race in its operations, citing Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.^[17][18]