During President Bill Clinton's first and second terms of office, he nominated 24 people for 20 federal appellate judgeships but the nominees were not processed by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. Three of the nominees who were not processed ( Christine Arguello, Andre M. Davis and S. Elizabeth Gibson) were nominated after July 1, 2000, the traditional start date of the unofficial Thurmond Rule during a presidential election year. Democrats claim that Senate Republicans of the 106th Congress purposely tried to keep open particular judgeships as a political maneuver to allow a future Republican president to fill them. Of the 20 seats in question, four were eventually filled with different Clinton nominees, fourteen were later filled with Republican nominees by President George W. Bush and two continued to stay open during Bush's presidency. Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the United States Senate during the 110th Congress, and Senator Patrick Leahy, the Democratic leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee under Reid, repeatedly mentioned the controversy over President Clinton's court of appeals nominees during the controversy involving the confirmation of Republican court of appeals nominees during the last two years of Bush's second term. Republicans claimed that Democrats were refusing to confirm certain longstanding Bush nominees in order to allow a future Democratic president in 2009 to fill those judgeships.
During his presidency, Clinton also nominated 45 people for 42 federal district judgeships who were never confirmed by the United States Senate and successfully nominated 66 people for appellate judgeships.
Clinton made 72 nominations for federal judgeships that were not confirmed by the Senate. Of these, one, Ronnie L. White, was rejected by the Senate, 11 were withdrawn by President Clinton, 10 were withdrawn by President George W. Bush, while the other 50 expired at an adjournment of the Senate, including 32 that were pending at the close of the 106th Congress. Eleven of his unsuccessful nominees were subsequently nominated to federal judgeships by other presidents, and all 11 were confirmed.
Nominee | Court | Nomination date |
Date of final action |
Final action | Subsequent federal judicial nominations | Seat filled by | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Courts of appeals | |||||||
Charles Stack | 11th Cir. | October 27, 1995 | May 13, 1996 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Stanley Marcus | [1] | |
James A. Beaty Jr. | 4th Cir. | December 22, 1995 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | James A. Wynn Jr. | [2] [3] | |
J. Rich Leonard | 4th Cir. | December 22, 1995 | October 4, 1996 | returned to the president | Roger Gregory | [4] | |
Helene White | 6th Cir. | January 7, 1997 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | 6th Cir. (nominated April 15, 2008, confirmed June 24, 2008) | Richard Allen Griffin | [5] [6] [7] |
James Ware | 9th Cir. | June 27, 1997 | November 7, 1997 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Kim McLane Wardlaw | [8] | |
Jorge Rangel | 5th Cir. | July 24, 1997 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Priscilla Richman | [9] | |
Robert S. Raymar | 3rd Cir. | June 5, 1998 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Maryanne Trump Barry | [10] | |
Barry Goode | 9th Cir. | June 24, 1998 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Carlos Bea | [11] [12] [13] | |
Barbara Durham | 9th Cir. | January 26, 1999 | August 5, 1999 | returned to the president | Richard C. Tallman | [14] | |
Alston Johnson | 5th Cir. | April 22, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Edith Brown Clement | [15] [16] | |
James E. Duffy Jr. | 9th Cir. | June 17, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Richard Clifton | [17] [18] | |
Elena Kagan | D.C. Cir. | June 17, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | SCOTUS (nominated May 10, 2010, confirmed August 5, 2010) | John Roberts | [19] |
James A. Wynn Jr. | 4th Cir. | August 5, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | 4th Cir. (nominated November 4, 2009, confirmed August 5, 2010) | Himself | [20] [21] |
Kathleen McCree Lewis | 6th Cir. | September 16, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Susan Bieke Neilson | [22] [23] | |
Enrique Moreno | 5th Cir. | September 16, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Priscilla Richman | [24] [25] | |
James Lyons | 10th Cir. | September 22, 1999 | June 6, 2000 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Timothy Tymkovich | [26] | |
Allen Snyder | D.C. Cir. | September 22, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Thomas B. Griffith | [27] | |
Kent Markus | 6th Cir. | February 9, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Jeffrey Sutton | [28] | |
Robert J. Cindrich | 3rd Cir. | February 9, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | D. Brooks Smith | [29] | |
Bonnie Campbell | 8th Cir. | March 2, 2000 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Michael Joseph Melloy | [30] [31] | |
Stephen Orlofsky | 3rd Cir. | May 25, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Michael Chertoff | [32] | |
Roger Gregory [a] | 4th Cir. | June 30, 2000 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | 4th Cir. (nominated May 9, 2001, confirmed July 20, 2001) | Himself | [33] [34] |
Christine Arguello | 10th Cir. | July 27, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | D. Colo. (nominated July 10, 2008, confirmed September 26, 2008) | Timothy Tymkovich | [35] |
Andre M. Davis | 4th Cir. | October 6, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | 4th Cir. (nominated April 2, 2009, confirmed November 9, 2009) | Himself | [36] |
S. Elizabeth Gibson | 4th Cir. | October 26, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Allyson K. Duncan | [37] | |
District courts | |||||||
Theodore Klein | S.D. Fla. | November 1, 1993 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | Donald M. Middlebrooks | [38] | |
R. Samuel Paz | C.D. Cal. | March 24, 1994 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | George H. King | [39] | |
Judith D. McConnell | S.D. Cal. | August 5, 1994 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | Barry Ted Moskowitz | [40] | |
John R. Tait | D. Idaho | August 25, 1994 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | B. Lynn Winmill | [41] | |
John D. Snodgrass | N.D. Ala. | September 22, 1994 | September 5, 1995 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Charles Lynwood Smith Jr. | [42] [43] | |
Patrick J. Toole Jr. | M.D. Pa. | September 26, 1994 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | A. Richard Caputo | [44] | |
Wenona Y. Whitfield | S.D. Ill. | March 23, 1995 | October 4, 1996 | returned to the president | David R. Herndon | [45] | |
Leland M. Shurin | W.D. Mo. | April 4, 1995 | September 5, 1995 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Gary A. Fenner | [46] | |
John H. Bingler Jr. | W.D. Pa. | July 21, 1995 | February 12, 1998 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Arthur J. Schwab | [47] [48] | |
Bruce W. Greer | S.D. Fla. | August 1, 1995 | May 13, 1996 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Donald M. Middlebrooks | [49] | |
Clarence J. Sundram | N.D.N.Y. | September 29, 1995 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | David N. Hurd | [50] [51] | |
Sue E. Myerscough | C.D. Ill. | October 11, 1995 | October 4, 1996 | returned to the president | C.D. Ill. (nominated June 17, 2010, confirmed March 7, 2011) | Michael P. McCuskey | [52] |
Cheryl B. Wattley | N.D. Tex. | December 12, 1995 | October 4, 1996 | returned to the president | Sam A. Lindsay | [53] | |
Michael D. Schattman | N.D. Tex. | December 19, 1995 | July 31, 1998 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Barbara M. Lynn | [54] [55] | |
Anabelle Rodriguez | D.P.R. | January 26, 1996 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Jay A. García-Gregory | [56] [57] | |
Lynne R. Lasry | S.D. Cal. | February 12, 1997 | February 12, 1998 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Thomas J. Whelan | [58] | |
Ronnie L. White | E.D. Mo. | June 26, 1997 | October 5, 1999 | rejected by the Senate | E.D. Mo. (nominated November 7, 2013, confirmed July 16, 2014) | Henry Autrey | [59] [60] |
Frederica Massiah-Jackson | E.D. Pa. | July 31, 1997 | March 16, 1998 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Petrese B. Tucker | [61] | |
Jeffrey D. Colman | N.D. Ill. | July 31, 1997 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Ronald A. Guzman | [62] | |
James W. Klein | D.D.C. | January 27, 1998 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | John D. Bates | [63] [64] | |
Robert A. Freedberg | E.D. Pa. | April 23, 1998 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Petrese B. Tucker | [65] | |
Lynette Norton | W.D. Pa. | April 29, 1998 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Arthur J. Schwab | [66] [67] | |
Legrome D. Davis | E.D. Pa. | July 30, 1998 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | E.D. Pa. (nominated January 23, 2002, confirmed April 18, 2022) | Himself | [68] [69] |
J. Rich Leonard | E.D.N.C. | March 24, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | James C. Dever III | [70] | |
Frank H. McCarthy | N.D. Okla. | April 30, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Claire Eagan | [71] | |
Patricia A. Coan | D. Colo. | May 27, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Robert E. Blackburn | [72] | |
Dolly Gee | C.D. Cal. | May 27, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | C.D. Cal. (nominated August 6, 2009, confirmed December 24, 2009) | John F. Walter | [73] |
Fredric D. Woocher | C.D. Cal. | May 27, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Percy Anderson | [74] | |
Gail S. Tusan | N.D. Ga. | August 3, 1999 | March 27, 2000 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Beverly B. Martin | [75] | |
Steven D. Bell | N.D. Ohio | August 5, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | John R. Adams | [76] | |
Rhonda C. Fields | D.D.C. | November 17, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Reggie Walton | [77] | |
S. David Fineman | E.D. Pa. | March 9, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Cynthia M. Rufe | [78] | |
Linda B. Riegle | D. Nev. | April 25, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Larry R. Hicks | [79] | |
Ricardo Morado | S.D. Tex. | May 11, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Andrew Hanen | [80] | |
K. Gary Sebelius | D. Kan. | June 6, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Julie A. Robinson | [81] | |
Kenneth O. Simon | N.D. Ala. | June 6, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Karon O. Bowdre | [82] | |
John S. W. Lim | D. Haw. | June 8, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | John Michael Seabright | [83] | |
David S. Cercone | W.D. Pa. | July 27, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | W.D. Pa. (nominated March 21, 2002, confirmed August 1, 2002) | vacancy nullified | [84] |
Harry Litman | W.D. Pa. | July 27, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Joy Flowers Conti | [85] | |
Valerie K. Couch | W.D. Okla. | September 7, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Stephen P. Friot | [86] | |
Marian McClure Johnston | E.D. Cal. | September 7, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Morrison C. England Jr. | [87] | |
Steven E. Achelpohl | D. Neb. | September 12, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Laurie Smith Camp | [88] | |
Richard W. Anderson | D. Mont. | September 13, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Sam E. Haddon | [89] | |
Stephen B. Lieberman | E.D. Pa. | September 14, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Timothy J. Savage | [90] | |
Melvin C. Hall | W.D. Okla. | October 3, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Joe L. Heaton | [91] | |
Court of International Trade | |||||||
Jeffrey G. Stark | Intl. Trade | April 29, 1998 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Richard K. Eaton | [92] | |
Article I courts | |||||||
Sarah L. Wilson [b] | Fed. Cl. | January 3, 2001 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Mary Ellen Coster Williams | [93] |
While not a controversy, one other Clinton appellate court nominee, Barbara Durham, withdrew before being confirmed, but not because of Republican opposition. Rather, Durham, a conservative jurist whom Clinton nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as part of a deal with then-Washington Sen. Slade Gorton, withdrew because of illness. Clinton instead nominated Republican lawyer Richard Tallman of Seattle to the seat to which he had nominated Durham, and Tallman was confirmed in 2000.
While he was never formally nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Peter Edelman was strongly considered by Clinton for a seat on that appeals court in late 1994. After the influential Republican member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Orrin Hatch informed Clinton that he had intended to oppose Edelman's nomination, Clinton dropped plans to nominate Edelman to the D.C. Circuit, choosing Merrick Garland instead. [94]
In its November 1997 issue, the American Spectator reported that President Clinton had intended to nominate Teresa Wynn Roseborough in 1997 to a vacant seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch took senior status. The American Spectator noted, however, that Sen. Orrin Hatch, the then-chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, had "balked" at the idea of Roseborough, who was one of four finalists (the others were Leah Ward Sears, Clarence Cooper and Frank M. Hull) and had "suggested that a more moderate Clinton-appointed U.S. district judge, Frank Hull, would have clear sailing." Indeed, Frank M. Hull was confirmed by the Senate in a 96-0 vote in September 1997. [95]
During his presidency, Clinton nominated 45 people for 42 different federal district judgeships to federal district courts who were never confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Like the appellate court nominations mentioned above, many of these nominees were blocked by Republicans either in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was controlled by Republicans for six of the eight years of Clinton’s presidency, or on the Senate floor, where one nominee, Ronnie L. White, was defeated by senators.
Of the 42 federal district judgeship vacancies in question, 17 eventually were filled with different Clinton nominees, 24 were filled by nominees of President George W. Bush and one never ended up becoming vacant because the district judge holding it never received confirmation to be elevated to an appellate court. Of Clinton's 45 failed district court nominees, four, Legrome D. Davis, David S. Cercone, Dolly M. Gee and Sue E. Myerscough, subsequently were nominated by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to federal district judgeships and then confirmed by the Senate.
The failed Clinton district court nominees:
During President Bill Clinton's first and second terms of office, he nominated 24 people for 20 federal appellate judgeships but the nominees were not processed by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. Three of the nominees who were not processed ( Christine Arguello, Andre M. Davis and S. Elizabeth Gibson) were nominated after July 1, 2000, the traditional start date of the unofficial Thurmond Rule during a presidential election year. Democrats claim that Senate Republicans of the 106th Congress purposely tried to keep open particular judgeships as a political maneuver to allow a future Republican president to fill them. Of the 20 seats in question, four were eventually filled with different Clinton nominees, fourteen were later filled with Republican nominees by President George W. Bush and two continued to stay open during Bush's presidency. Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the United States Senate during the 110th Congress, and Senator Patrick Leahy, the Democratic leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee under Reid, repeatedly mentioned the controversy over President Clinton's court of appeals nominees during the controversy involving the confirmation of Republican court of appeals nominees during the last two years of Bush's second term. Republicans claimed that Democrats were refusing to confirm certain longstanding Bush nominees in order to allow a future Democratic president in 2009 to fill those judgeships.
During his presidency, Clinton also nominated 45 people for 42 federal district judgeships who were never confirmed by the United States Senate and successfully nominated 66 people for appellate judgeships.
Clinton made 72 nominations for federal judgeships that were not confirmed by the Senate. Of these, one, Ronnie L. White, was rejected by the Senate, 11 were withdrawn by President Clinton, 10 were withdrawn by President George W. Bush, while the other 50 expired at an adjournment of the Senate, including 32 that were pending at the close of the 106th Congress. Eleven of his unsuccessful nominees were subsequently nominated to federal judgeships by other presidents, and all 11 were confirmed.
Nominee | Court | Nomination date |
Date of final action |
Final action | Subsequent federal judicial nominations | Seat filled by | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Courts of appeals | |||||||
Charles Stack | 11th Cir. | October 27, 1995 | May 13, 1996 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Stanley Marcus | [1] | |
James A. Beaty Jr. | 4th Cir. | December 22, 1995 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | James A. Wynn Jr. | [2] [3] | |
J. Rich Leonard | 4th Cir. | December 22, 1995 | October 4, 1996 | returned to the president | Roger Gregory | [4] | |
Helene White | 6th Cir. | January 7, 1997 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | 6th Cir. (nominated April 15, 2008, confirmed June 24, 2008) | Richard Allen Griffin | [5] [6] [7] |
James Ware | 9th Cir. | June 27, 1997 | November 7, 1997 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Kim McLane Wardlaw | [8] | |
Jorge Rangel | 5th Cir. | July 24, 1997 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Priscilla Richman | [9] | |
Robert S. Raymar | 3rd Cir. | June 5, 1998 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Maryanne Trump Barry | [10] | |
Barry Goode | 9th Cir. | June 24, 1998 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Carlos Bea | [11] [12] [13] | |
Barbara Durham | 9th Cir. | January 26, 1999 | August 5, 1999 | returned to the president | Richard C. Tallman | [14] | |
Alston Johnson | 5th Cir. | April 22, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Edith Brown Clement | [15] [16] | |
James E. Duffy Jr. | 9th Cir. | June 17, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Richard Clifton | [17] [18] | |
Elena Kagan | D.C. Cir. | June 17, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | SCOTUS (nominated May 10, 2010, confirmed August 5, 2010) | John Roberts | [19] |
James A. Wynn Jr. | 4th Cir. | August 5, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | 4th Cir. (nominated November 4, 2009, confirmed August 5, 2010) | Himself | [20] [21] |
Kathleen McCree Lewis | 6th Cir. | September 16, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Susan Bieke Neilson | [22] [23] | |
Enrique Moreno | 5th Cir. | September 16, 1999 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Priscilla Richman | [24] [25] | |
James Lyons | 10th Cir. | September 22, 1999 | June 6, 2000 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Timothy Tymkovich | [26] | |
Allen Snyder | D.C. Cir. | September 22, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Thomas B. Griffith | [27] | |
Kent Markus | 6th Cir. | February 9, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Jeffrey Sutton | [28] | |
Robert J. Cindrich | 3rd Cir. | February 9, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | D. Brooks Smith | [29] | |
Bonnie Campbell | 8th Cir. | March 2, 2000 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Michael Joseph Melloy | [30] [31] | |
Stephen Orlofsky | 3rd Cir. | May 25, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Michael Chertoff | [32] | |
Roger Gregory [a] | 4th Cir. | June 30, 2000 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | 4th Cir. (nominated May 9, 2001, confirmed July 20, 2001) | Himself | [33] [34] |
Christine Arguello | 10th Cir. | July 27, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | D. Colo. (nominated July 10, 2008, confirmed September 26, 2008) | Timothy Tymkovich | [35] |
Andre M. Davis | 4th Cir. | October 6, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | 4th Cir. (nominated April 2, 2009, confirmed November 9, 2009) | Himself | [36] |
S. Elizabeth Gibson | 4th Cir. | October 26, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Allyson K. Duncan | [37] | |
District courts | |||||||
Theodore Klein | S.D. Fla. | November 1, 1993 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | Donald M. Middlebrooks | [38] | |
R. Samuel Paz | C.D. Cal. | March 24, 1994 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | George H. King | [39] | |
Judith D. McConnell | S.D. Cal. | August 5, 1994 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | Barry Ted Moskowitz | [40] | |
John R. Tait | D. Idaho | August 25, 1994 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | B. Lynn Winmill | [41] | |
John D. Snodgrass | N.D. Ala. | September 22, 1994 | September 5, 1995 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Charles Lynwood Smith Jr. | [42] [43] | |
Patrick J. Toole Jr. | M.D. Pa. | September 26, 1994 | November 14, 1994 | returned to the president | A. Richard Caputo | [44] | |
Wenona Y. Whitfield | S.D. Ill. | March 23, 1995 | October 4, 1996 | returned to the president | David R. Herndon | [45] | |
Leland M. Shurin | W.D. Mo. | April 4, 1995 | September 5, 1995 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Gary A. Fenner | [46] | |
John H. Bingler Jr. | W.D. Pa. | July 21, 1995 | February 12, 1998 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Arthur J. Schwab | [47] [48] | |
Bruce W. Greer | S.D. Fla. | August 1, 1995 | May 13, 1996 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Donald M. Middlebrooks | [49] | |
Clarence J. Sundram | N.D.N.Y. | September 29, 1995 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | David N. Hurd | [50] [51] | |
Sue E. Myerscough | C.D. Ill. | October 11, 1995 | October 4, 1996 | returned to the president | C.D. Ill. (nominated June 17, 2010, confirmed March 7, 2011) | Michael P. McCuskey | [52] |
Cheryl B. Wattley | N.D. Tex. | December 12, 1995 | October 4, 1996 | returned to the president | Sam A. Lindsay | [53] | |
Michael D. Schattman | N.D. Tex. | December 19, 1995 | July 31, 1998 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Barbara M. Lynn | [54] [55] | |
Anabelle Rodriguez | D.P.R. | January 26, 1996 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Jay A. García-Gregory | [56] [57] | |
Lynne R. Lasry | S.D. Cal. | February 12, 1997 | February 12, 1998 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Thomas J. Whelan | [58] | |
Ronnie L. White | E.D. Mo. | June 26, 1997 | October 5, 1999 | rejected by the Senate | E.D. Mo. (nominated November 7, 2013, confirmed July 16, 2014) | Henry Autrey | [59] [60] |
Frederica Massiah-Jackson | E.D. Pa. | July 31, 1997 | March 16, 1998 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Petrese B. Tucker | [61] | |
Jeffrey D. Colman | N.D. Ill. | July 31, 1997 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Ronald A. Guzman | [62] | |
James W. Klein | D.D.C. | January 27, 1998 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | John D. Bates | [63] [64] | |
Robert A. Freedberg | E.D. Pa. | April 23, 1998 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Petrese B. Tucker | [65] | |
Lynette Norton | W.D. Pa. | April 29, 1998 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Arthur J. Schwab | [66] [67] | |
Legrome D. Davis | E.D. Pa. | July 30, 1998 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | E.D. Pa. (nominated January 23, 2002, confirmed April 18, 2022) | Himself | [68] [69] |
J. Rich Leonard | E.D.N.C. | March 24, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | James C. Dever III | [70] | |
Frank H. McCarthy | N.D. Okla. | April 30, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Claire Eagan | [71] | |
Patricia A. Coan | D. Colo. | May 27, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Robert E. Blackburn | [72] | |
Dolly Gee | C.D. Cal. | May 27, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | C.D. Cal. (nominated August 6, 2009, confirmed December 24, 2009) | John F. Walter | [73] |
Fredric D. Woocher | C.D. Cal. | May 27, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Percy Anderson | [74] | |
Gail S. Tusan | N.D. Ga. | August 3, 1999 | March 27, 2000 | withdrawn by Pres. Clinton | Beverly B. Martin | [75] | |
Steven D. Bell | N.D. Ohio | August 5, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | John R. Adams | [76] | |
Rhonda C. Fields | D.D.C. | November 17, 1999 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Reggie Walton | [77] | |
S. David Fineman | E.D. Pa. | March 9, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Cynthia M. Rufe | [78] | |
Linda B. Riegle | D. Nev. | April 25, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Larry R. Hicks | [79] | |
Ricardo Morado | S.D. Tex. | May 11, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Andrew Hanen | [80] | |
K. Gary Sebelius | D. Kan. | June 6, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Julie A. Robinson | [81] | |
Kenneth O. Simon | N.D. Ala. | June 6, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Karon O. Bowdre | [82] | |
John S. W. Lim | D. Haw. | June 8, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | John Michael Seabright | [83] | |
David S. Cercone | W.D. Pa. | July 27, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | W.D. Pa. (nominated March 21, 2002, confirmed August 1, 2002) | vacancy nullified | [84] |
Harry Litman | W.D. Pa. | July 27, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Joy Flowers Conti | [85] | |
Valerie K. Couch | W.D. Okla. | September 7, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Stephen P. Friot | [86] | |
Marian McClure Johnston | E.D. Cal. | September 7, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Morrison C. England Jr. | [87] | |
Steven E. Achelpohl | D. Neb. | September 12, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Laurie Smith Camp | [88] | |
Richard W. Anderson | D. Mont. | September 13, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Sam E. Haddon | [89] | |
Stephen B. Lieberman | E.D. Pa. | September 14, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Timothy J. Savage | [90] | |
Melvin C. Hall | W.D. Okla. | October 3, 2000 | December 15, 2000 | returned to the president | Joe L. Heaton | [91] | |
Court of International Trade | |||||||
Jeffrey G. Stark | Intl. Trade | April 29, 1998 | October 21, 1998 | returned to the president | Richard K. Eaton | [92] | |
Article I courts | |||||||
Sarah L. Wilson [b] | Fed. Cl. | January 3, 2001 | March 19, 2001 | withdrawn by Pres. Bush | Mary Ellen Coster Williams | [93] |
While not a controversy, one other Clinton appellate court nominee, Barbara Durham, withdrew before being confirmed, but not because of Republican opposition. Rather, Durham, a conservative jurist whom Clinton nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as part of a deal with then-Washington Sen. Slade Gorton, withdrew because of illness. Clinton instead nominated Republican lawyer Richard Tallman of Seattle to the seat to which he had nominated Durham, and Tallman was confirmed in 2000.
While he was never formally nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Peter Edelman was strongly considered by Clinton for a seat on that appeals court in late 1994. After the influential Republican member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Orrin Hatch informed Clinton that he had intended to oppose Edelman's nomination, Clinton dropped plans to nominate Edelman to the D.C. Circuit, choosing Merrick Garland instead. [94]
In its November 1997 issue, the American Spectator reported that President Clinton had intended to nominate Teresa Wynn Roseborough in 1997 to a vacant seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch took senior status. The American Spectator noted, however, that Sen. Orrin Hatch, the then-chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, had "balked" at the idea of Roseborough, who was one of four finalists (the others were Leah Ward Sears, Clarence Cooper and Frank M. Hull) and had "suggested that a more moderate Clinton-appointed U.S. district judge, Frank Hull, would have clear sailing." Indeed, Frank M. Hull was confirmed by the Senate in a 96-0 vote in September 1997. [95]
During his presidency, Clinton nominated 45 people for 42 different federal district judgeships to federal district courts who were never confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Like the appellate court nominations mentioned above, many of these nominees were blocked by Republicans either in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was controlled by Republicans for six of the eight years of Clinton’s presidency, or on the Senate floor, where one nominee, Ronnie L. White, was defeated by senators.
Of the 42 federal district judgeship vacancies in question, 17 eventually were filled with different Clinton nominees, 24 were filled by nominees of President George W. Bush and one never ended up becoming vacant because the district judge holding it never received confirmation to be elevated to an appellate court. Of Clinton's 45 failed district court nominees, four, Legrome D. Davis, David S. Cercone, Dolly M. Gee and Sue E. Myerscough, subsequently were nominated by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to federal district judgeships and then confirmed by the Senate.
The failed Clinton district court nominees: