Nominations to Article III Lower Courts by President George W. Bush During the 110th Congress Page: 4 of 17
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Nominations to Article III Lower Courts by
President George W. Bush During the
110t" Congress
Introduction
In recent years, Congress has expressed increasing interest in the nomination
and confirmation process for lower federal court judges.1 To provide Congress with
a current overview of this process, this report tracks the status of certain lower court
nominations made by President George W. Bush during the 110th Congress. The
report deals primarily with nominations to lower Article III courts (those courts on
which judges serve "during good Behaviour"), while also accounting for infrequent
nominations to the small number of territorial district judgeships, which have fixed-
term appointments.2
The Article III Lower Courts
Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution provides, in part, that the "judicial
Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior
Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." It further
provides that justices on the Supreme Court and judges on lower courts established
by Congress under Article III have what effectively has come to mean life tenure,
holding their office "during good Behaviour."3 By contrast, judges in various federal
courts established by Congress under Article I of the Constitution are appointed for
1 See, for example, Nancy Scherer, Scoring Points: Politicians, Activists, and the Lower
Federal Court Appointment Process (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005); Lee
Epstein and Jeffrey A. Segal, Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Sheldon Goldman, "Judicial Confirmation
Wars: Ideology and the Battle for the Federal Courts," University ofRichmond Law Review,
vol. 39, March 2005, pp. 871-908; Stephen B. Burbank, "Politics, Privilege & Power: The
Senate's Role in the Appointment of Federal Judges," Judicature, vol. 86, July-August
2002, pp. 24-27; and Elliot E. Slotnick, "A Historical Perspective on Federal Judicial
Selection," Judicature, vol. 86, July-August 2002, pp. 13-16.
2 For a detailed narrative and statistical analysis of President George W. Bush's lower court
nominations during the first six years of his presidency, see CRS Report RL31868, U.S.
Circuit and District Court Nominations by President George W. Bush During the 107th-109th
Congresses, by Denis Steven Rutkus, Kevin M. Scott, and Maureen Bearden.
3 Pursuant to this constitutional language, Article III judges may hold office for as long as
they live or until they voluntarily leave office. A President has no power to remove them
from office. Article III judges may be removed by Congress only through the process of
impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate.
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Nominations to Article III Lower Courts by President George W. Bush During the 110th Congress, report, May 4, 2007; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc817945/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.