[4] On March 1, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Tapp to a seat on the United States Court of Federal Claims.

President Trump nominated Tapp to the seat vacated by Judge Lynn J. Bush, who assumed senior status on October 22, 2013.

[7] On November 5, 2019, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 83–9 vote.

[11] In May 2024, NPR revealed that Tapp had received free travel in late 2021 to the Sage Lodge Colloquium, a privately funded legal seminar hosted at a resort in Montana's Paradise Valley, but had failed to disclose this on his annual financial disclosure form for that year, in violation of federal ethics law.

[12] In response, Tapp told NPR that he had "begun the process of preparing an amended report.