George H. W. Bush judicial appointment controversies
During George H. W. Bush 's term in office as the president of the United States of America, he nominated 11 individuals for 10 different federal appellate judgeships who were not processed by the Democratic -controlled Senate Judiciary Committee .[ 1] The Republicans claim that Senate Democrats of the 102nd Congress on purpose tried to keep open particular judgeships as a political maneuver to allow a future Democratic president to fill them.[ 2] All 10 of the judgeships were eventually filled with Clinton nominees, although one nominee, Roger Gregory , was nominated by Clinton and then renominated by President George W. Bush. None of the nominees were nominated after July 1, 1992, the traditional start date of the unofficial Thurmond Rule during a presidential election year. Senator Orrin Hatch , the Republican leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 106th Congress mentioned the controversy over President George H.W. Bush's court of appeals nominees during the following controversy involving the confirmation of any more Democratic court of appeals nominees during the last two years of President Bill Clinton 's second term.[ 3]
List of unsuccessful federal judicial nominations
Bush made 56 nominations for federal judgeships that were not confirmed by the Senate. All 56 expired at an adjournment of the Senate, including 53 that were pending at the close of the 102nd Congress . Twenty of his unsuccessful nominees were subsequently nominated to federal judgeships by other presidents, and 18 of them were confirmed.
Nominee
Court
Nomination date
Date of final action
Final action
Subsequent federal judicial nominations
Seat filled by
Ref.
Courts of appeals
Kenneth Ryskamp
11th Cir.
April 26, 1990
August 2, 1991
returned to the president
Rosemary Barkett
[ 4] [ 5]
Jay Waldman
3rd Cir.
July 26, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
H. Lee Sarokin
[ 6]
Franklin Van Antwerpen
3rd Cir.
September 11, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
3rd Cir. (nominated November 21, 2003, confirmed May 20, 2004)
Theodore McKee
[ 7]
Lillian BeVier
4th Cir.
October 22, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Roger Gregory
[ 8]
Terrence Boyle
4th Cir.
October 22, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
4th Cir. (nominated May 9, 2001, returned December 9, 2006)
Diana Gribbon Motz
[ 9]
Frank Keating
10th Cir.
November 14, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Carlos F. Lucero
[ 10]
Sidney A. Fitzwater
5th Cir.
January 27, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Fortunato Benavides
[ 11]
John Roberts
D.C. Cir.
January 27, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
D.C. Cir. (nominated May 9, 2001, confirmed May 8, 2003) SCOTUS (nominated July 29, 2005, confirmed September 6, 2005) Chief Justice (nominated September 6, 2005, confirmed September 29, 2005)
Judith W. Rogers
[ 12]
John Smietanka
6th Cir.
January 27, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Martha Craig Daughtrey
[ 13]
Federico A. Moreno
11th Cir.
March 10, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Rosemary Barkett
[ 14]
Justin P. Wilson
6th Cir.
March 20, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Karen Nelson Moore
[ 15]
District courts
James R. McGregor
W.D. Pa.
October 15, 1990
August 2, 1991
returned to the president
Donetta Ambrose
[ 16] [ 17]
Edmund Arthur Kavanagh
N.D.N.Y.
July 25, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Rosemary S. Pooler
[ 18]
Thomas E. Sholts
S.D. Fla.
July 26, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Wilkie D. Ferguson
[ 19]
Andrew P. O'Rourke
S.D.N.Y.
November 12, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Allen G. Schwartz
[ 20]
Tony Michael Graham
N.D. Okla.
November 14, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Terence C. Kern
[ 21]
Carlos Bea
N.D. Cal.
November 20, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
9th Cir. (nominated April 11, 2003, confirmed September 29, 2003)
Claudia Ann Wilken
[ 22]
James B. Franklin
S.D. Ga.
November 26, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
William Theodore Moore Jr.
[ 23]
David G. Trager
E.D.N.Y.
November 27, 1991
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
E.D.N.Y. (nominated August 6, 1993, confirmed November 20, 1993)
Himself
[ 24]
Kenneth R. Carr
W.D. Tex.
January 27, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Samuel Frederick Biery Jr.
[ 25]
James W. Jackson
N.D. Ohio
January 27, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
James G. Carr
[ 26]
Terral R. Smith
W.D. Tex.
January 27, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
William Royal Furgeson Jr.
[ 27]
Paul L. Shechtman
S.D.N.Y.
March 20, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Deborah Batts
[ 28]
Percy Anderson
C.D. Cal.
March 20, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
C.D. Cal. (nominated January 23, 2002, confirmed April 25, 2002)
Audrey B. Collins
[ 29]
Lawrence O. Davis
E.D. Mo.
March 20, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Charles Alexander Shaw
[ 30]
Andrew Hanen
S.D. Tex.
March 20, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
S.D. Tex. (nominated January 23, 2002, confirmed May 9, 2002)
Janis Graham Jack
[ 31]
Russell T. Lloyd
S.D. Tex.
March 20, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Vanessa Gilmore
[ 32]
John F. Walter
C.D. Cal.
March 20, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
C.D. Cal. (nominated January 23, 2002, confirmed April 25, 2002)
Richard Paez
[ 33]
Gene E. Voigts
W.D. Mo.
March 24, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Gary A. Fenner
[ 34]
Manuel H. Quintana
S.D.N.Y.
March 26, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Denny Chin
[ 35]
Charles A. Banks
E.D. Ark.
April 1, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Billy Roy Wilson
[ 36]
Robert D. Hunter
N.D. Ala.
April 2, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Charles Lynwood Smith Jr.
[ 37]
Maureen Mahoney
E.D. Va.
April 2, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Leonie Brinkema
[ 38]
James S. Mitchell
D. Neb.
April 7, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Thomas Michael Shanahan
[ 39]
Ronald B. Leighton
W.D. Wash.
April 30, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
W.D. Wash. (nominated January 23, 2002, confirmed November 14, 2002)
Frank Burgess
[ 40]
William D. Quarles Jr.
D. Md.
June 2, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
D. Md. (nominated September 12, 2002, confirmed March 12, 2003)
Deborah K. Chasanow
[ 41]
James A. McIntyre
S.D. Cal.
June 2, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Barry Ted Moskowitz
[ 42]
Leonard Davis
E.D. Tex.
June 3, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
E.D. Tex. (nominated January 23, 2002, confirmed May 9, 2002)
John H. Hannah Jr.
[ 43]
J. Douglas Drushal
N.D. Ohio
June 3, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Lesley B. Wells
[ 44]
C. Christopher Hagy
N.D. Ga.
June 3, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Frank M. Hull
[ 45]
Louis J. Leonatti
E.D. Mo.
June 3, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Catherine D. Perry
[ 46]
James J. McMonagle
N.D. Ohio
June 23, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Solomon Oliver Jr.
[ 47]
Katharine J. Armentrout
D. Md.
June 23, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Alexander Williams Jr.
[ 48]
Richard C. Casey
S.D.N.Y.
July 2, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
S.D.N.Y. (nominated July 16, 1997, confirmed October 21, 1997)
Harold Baer Jr.
[ 49]
Larry R. Hicks
D. Nev.
July 2, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
D. Nev. (nominated August 2, 2001, confirmed November 5, 2001)
David Warner Hagen
[ 50]
R. Edgar Campbell
M.D. Ga.
July 27, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Willie Louis Sands
[ 51]
Joanna Seybert
E.D.N.Y.
July 27, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
E.D.N.Y. (nominated September 24, 1993, confirmed November 20, 1993)
Herself
[ 52]
Robert W. Kostelka
W.D. La.
August 7, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Tucker L. Melancon
[ 53]
Richard Everett Dorr
W.D. Mo.
September 9, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
W.D. Mo. (nominated March 21, 2002, confirmed August 1, 2002)
Ortrie D. Smith
[ 54]
James H. Payne
E.D. Okla. N.D. Okla. W.D. Okla.
September 17, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
E.D. /N.D. /W.D. Okla. (nominated August 2, 2001, confirmed October 23, 2001) 10th Cir. (nominated September 29, 2005, withdrawn March 7, 2006)
Michael Burrage
[ 55]
Walter B. Prince
D. Mass.
September 17, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
Richard G. Stearns
[ 56]
George A. O'Toole Jr.
D. Mass.
September 24, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
D. Mass. (nominated April 4, 1995, confirmed May 25, 1995)
Reginald C. Lindsay
[ 57]
William Dimitrouleas
S.D. Fla.
October 2, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
S.D. Fla. (nominated January 27, 1998, confirmed May 14, 1998)
Daniel T. K. Hurley
[ 58]
Henry Saad
E.D. Mich.
October 2, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
6th Cir. (nominated November 8, 2001, withdrawn March 27, 2006)
John Corbett O'Meara
[ 59]
Article IV courts
Adriane J. Dudley
D.V.I.
March 8, 1990
August 4, 1990
returned to the president
Thomas K. Moore
[ 60]
Raymond L. Finch
D.V.I.
June 19, 1992
October 8, 1992
returned to the president
D.V.I. (nominated March 22, 1994, confirmed May 6, 1994) D.V.I. (nominated February 2, 2004, confirmed November 21, 2004)
Himself
[ 61]
Failed appellate nominees
See also
References
Supreme Court candidates and nomination results All presidential judicial appointments Appointment controversies