Chauvin, 45, emerged via videoconference from Minnesota's maximum-security prison in Oak Park Heights, where he's being kept as he awaits sentencing following his April punishment on murder and manslaughter charges.
Chauvin was asked by the judge whether he knew that he could legally challenge his being held in detention on the federal charges, while the trial proceeded.
"In light of my current circumstances, I believe that would be a moot point," Chauvin replied.
The judge said the next step was Chauvin being formally accused and said a date would be announced soon.
The federal charges claim Chauvin violated Floyd's rights as he pinned him face-down while he was handcuffed, not combating and gasping for air.
WATCH TRUMP: EUROPE HAS OPENED IT'S DOORS TO JIHAD
Three other former officers - J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao - face similar federal charges.
Chauvin is also accredited in a separate indictment alleging he broke the rights of a 14-year-old boy in 2017.
Floyd, 46, regularly said he couldn't breathe as Chauvin pinned him to the ground.
WATCH DUKE PROFESSOR: STUDENTS VIEWING THE WORLD AS OPPRESSOR VS. OPPRESSED
Kueng and Lane helped restrain Floyd - Kueng knelt on Floyd´s back and Lane held down Floyd´s legs.
Thao held back bystanders and kept them from intervening during the nine-and-a-half-minute restraint that was filmed by a bystander's camera and led to worldwide protests and calls for change in policing.
KEVIN SPACEY'S DARK SECRETS EXPOSED IN NEW DOCUMENTARY SERIES
While all four officers are credited broadly with denying Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority, the counts that name Chauvin claim he attacked Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure and from the unreasonable force by a police officer.
IDIOT ALERT: CEO PRAISES RADICAL PROTESTERS, FACES IMMEDIATE BACKLASH
They also claim he and the others deprived Floyd of liberty without due process when they couldn't provide him medical care.
Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, claimed during Chauvin's murder trial that the officer acted fairly and Floyd died because of underlying health issues and drug use. He has filed a petition for a new trial.
BIDEN AND MARK HAMILL'S "STAR WARS DAY" VIDEO: A GALACTIC SUCCESS OR EPIC FAIL?
To bring federal charges in deaths involving police, prosecutors must believe an officer acted under the 'color of law,' or government authority, and willfully deprived someone's constitutional rights.
That's a high legal standard.
TUBERCULOSIS OUTBREAK: HEALTH EMERGENCY DECLARED IN CALIFORNIA, ARE YOU AT RISK?
A disaster, bad judgment or simple oversight on the officer's part is not just to support federal charges; prosecutors have to prove the officers knew what they were doing was wrong at that moment but did it anyway.
The federal case sends a clear message about the Justice Department's priorities.
When President Joe Biden was chosen, he promised he would work to end disparities in the criminal justice system.
Discover alternative ideas that will make you think
Engage in mind bending debate
Earn points, rise in rank, have fun
