Robert Heron Bork was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training,he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1982 to 1988. In 1987,President Ronald Reagan nominated Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court,but the Senate rejected his nomination after a contentious and highly publicized confirmation hearing.
Douglas Howard Ginsburg is an American lawyer,jurist,and academic who serves as a senior U.S. circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He is also a professor of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School.
Harriet Ellan Miers is an American lawyer who served as White House counsel to President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party since 1988,she previously served as White House staff secretary from 2001 to 2003 and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy from 2003 until 2005. In 2005,Miers was nominated by Bush to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor,but—in the face of bipartisan opposition—asked Bush to withdraw her nomination. Following her withdrawal in 2007,Miers returned to private practice,becoming a partner in the litigation and public policy group at Locke Lord.
Speculation abounded over potential nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States by President George W. Bush since before his presidency.
Miguel Angel Estrada Castañeda is a Honduran-American attorney who became embroiled in controversy following his 2001 nomination by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Senate Democrats,unable to block his nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee after the Republican Party took control of the U.S. Senate in 2002,used a filibuster for the first time to prevent his nomination from being given a final confirmation vote by the full Senate.
Paul Drew Clement is an American lawyer who served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2004 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court. He established his own law firm,Clement &Murphy,in 2022 after leaving Kirkland &Ellis,following that firm’s decision to end its Second Amendment work. He is also a Distinguished Lecturer in Law at Georgetown University and an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on March 14,2005,for the post of Solicitor General,confirmed by the United States Senate on June 8,2005,and took the oath of office on June 13.
Donny Ray Willett is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was previously appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas on August 24,2005,when former Justice Priscilla Owen created a vacancy on that court by joining the Fifth Circuit.
Steven Michael Colloton is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit since 2003. He became chief judge in March 2024.
Allen Roger Snyder is an American lawyer and a former nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
During President George W. Bush's two term tenure in office,a few of his nominations for federal judgeships were blocked by the Senate Democrats either directly in the Senate Judiciary Committee or on the full Senate floor in various procedural moves,including the first use of a filibuster to block a Federal Appeals Court nominee. Republicans labeled it an unwarranted obstruction of professionally qualified judicial nominees.
Virginia Anne Seitz is an American attorney who specializes in constitutional law,labor law,employment law and administrative law. She served as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the United States Department of Justice from 2011 until stepping down in December 2013. Seitz was confirmed to the post by the Senate in a voice vote on June 28,2011.
Speculation abounded over potential nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States by Ronald Reagan even before his presidency officially began,due to the advanced ages of several justices,and Reagan's own highlighting of Supreme Court nominations as a campaign issue. Reagan had promised "to appoint only those opposed to abortion and the 'judicial activism' of the Warren and Burger Courts". Conversely,some opposed to Reagan argued that he could "appoint as many as five Justices" and would "use the opportunity to stack the Court against women,minorities and social justice".
President Richard Nixon entered office in 1969 with Chief Justice Earl Warren having announced his retirement from the Supreme Court of the United States the previous year. Nixon appointed Warren E. Burger to replace Earl Warren,and during his time in office appointed three other members of the Supreme Court:Associate Justices Harry Blackmun,Lewis F. Powell,and William Rehnquist. Nixon also nominated Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell for the vacancy that was ultimately filled by Blackmun,but the nominations were rejected by the United States Senate. Nixon's failed Supreme Court nominations were the first since Herbert Hoover's nomination of John J. Parker was rejected by the Senate.
Richard Gary Taranto is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Pamela Ann Harris is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining the federal bench,she was an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School,and visiting professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and executive director of its Supreme Court Institute.
Ryan Douglas Nelson is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was previously nominated to become Solicitor of the United States Department of the Interior,but was never confirmed.
Andrew Stephen Oldham is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and former General Counsel to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Eric David Miller is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Brian Eddie Nelson is an American attorney and government official who is the current Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in the Biden administration.
Christopher Charles Fonzone is an American attorney serving as the United States assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel. He previously served as the general counsel to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
