# 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. 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. 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.

## 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 |
| Courts of appeals ||||||||
| Kenneth Ryskamp | 11th Cir. | April 26, 1990 | August 2, 1991 | returned to the president | | Rosemary Barkett |
| Jay Waldman | 3rd Cir. | July 26, 1991 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | H. Lee Sarokin |
| 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 |
| Lillian BeVier | 4th Cir. | October 22, 1991 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Roger Gregory |
| 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 |
| Frank Keating | 10th Cir. | November 14, 1991 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Carlos F. Lucero |
| Sidney A. Fitzwater | 5th Cir. | January 27, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Fortunato Benavides |
| 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 |
| John Smietanka | 6th Cir. | January 27, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Martha Craig Daughtrey |
| Federico A. Moreno | 11th Cir. | March 10, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Rosemary Barkett |
| Justin P. Wilson | 6th Cir. | March 20, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Karen Nelson Moore |
| District courts ||||||||
| James R. McGregor | W.D. Pa. | October 15, 1990 | August 2, 1991 | returned to the president | | Donetta Ambrose |
| Edmund Arthur Kavanagh | N.D.N.Y. | July 25, 1991 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Rosemary S. Pooler |
| Thomas E. Sholts | S.D. Fla. | July 26, 1991 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Wilkie D. Ferguson |
| Andrew P. O'Rourke | S.D.N.Y. | November 12, 1991 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Allen G. Schwartz |
| Tony Michael Graham | N.D. Okla. | November 14, 1991 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Terence C. Kern |
| 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 |
| James B. Franklin | S.D. Ga. | November 26, 1991 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | William Theodore Moore Jr. |
| 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 |
| Kenneth R. Carr | W.D. Tex. | January 27, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Samuel Frederick Biery Jr. |
| James W. Jackson | N.D. Ohio | January 27, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | James G. Carr |
| Terral R. Smith | W.D. Tex. | January 27, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | William Royal Furgeson Jr. |
| Paul L. Shechtman | S.D.N.Y. | March 20, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Deborah Batts |
| 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 |
| Lawrence O. Davis | E.D. Mo. | March 20, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Charles Alexander Shaw |
| 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 |
| Russell T. Lloyd | S.D. Tex. | March 20, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Vanessa Gilmore |
| 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 |
| Gene E. Voigts | W.D. Mo. | March 24, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Gary A. Fenner |
| Manuel H. Quintana | S.D.N.Y. | March 26, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Denny Chin |
| Charles A. Banks | E.D. Ark. | April 1, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Billy Roy Wilson |
| Robert D. Hunter | N.D. Ala. | April 2, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Charles Lynwood Smith Jr. |
| Maureen Mahoney | E.D. Va. | April 2, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Leonie Brinkema |
| James S. Mitchell | D. Neb. | April 7, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Thomas Michael Shanahan |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| James A. McIntyre | S.D. Cal. | June 2, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Barry Ted Moskowitz |
| 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. |
| J. Douglas Drushal | N.D. Ohio | June 3, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Lesley B. Wells |
| C. Christopher Hagy | N.D. Ga. | June 3, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Frank M. Hull |
| Louis J. Leonatti | E.D. Mo. | June 3, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Catherine D. Perry |
| James J. McMonagle | N.D. Ohio | June 23, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Solomon Oliver Jr. |
| Katharine J. Armentrout | D. Md. | June 23, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Alexander Williams Jr. |
| 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. |
| 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 |
| R. Edgar Campbell | M.D. Ga. | July 27, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Willie Louis Sands |
| 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 |
| Robert W. Kostelka | W.D. La. | August 7, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Tucker L. Melancon |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Walter B. Prince | D. Mass. | September 17, 1992 | October 8, 1992 | returned to the president | | Richard G. Stearns |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Article IV courts ||||||||
| Adriane J. Dudley | D.V.I. | March 8, 1990 | August 4, 1990 | returned to the president | | Thomas K. Moore |
| 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 |

## Failed appellate nominees

* United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
** Pennsylvania seat - Franklin Stuart Van Antwerpen (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Theodore McKee) (Van Antwerpen later was nominated to a different Third Circuit seat by President George W. Bush in 2003, confirmed in 2004 and assumed senior status in 2006)
** Pennsylvania seat - Jay Waldman (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee H. Lee Sarokin)
* United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
** North Carolina seat - Terrence Boyle (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Roger Gregory of Virginia after being renominated by Bush in 2001) (Boyle was renominated to a different seat on the Fourth Circuit by President George W. Bush but was never confirmed)
** Virginia seat - Lillian BeVier (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Diana Jane Gribbon Motz)
* United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
** Texas seat - Sidney A. Fitzwater (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Fortunato Benavides)
* United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
** Michigan seat - John Smietanka (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Martha Craig Daughtrey of Tennessee)
** Ohio seat - Justin Wilson of Tennessee (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Karen Nelson Moore of Ohio, while the then-vacant and newly created Tennessee seat was eventually filled by Clinton nominee Martha Craig Daughtrey)
* United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
** Oklahoma seat - Frank Keating (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Robert Harlan Henry)
* United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
** Florida seat - Kenneth Ryskamp, followed by Federico A. Moreno (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Rosemary Barkett)
* United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
** John Roberts (judgeship later filled by Clinton nominee Judith Ann Wilson Rogers) (Roberts was renominated and confirmed to a different seat on the D.C. Circuit under President George W. Bush; later, he was nominated and confirmed as the Chief Justice of the United States under George W. Bush)