John McCain Supreme Court candidates (President McCain)

President John McCain made two appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States, including one for Chief Justice. Both of these nominations took place in McCain's second term. His first nomination was Judge Janice Rogers Brown, nominated on July 8 to replace Sandra Day O'Connor following her retirement on July 1. Three months later, just before her hearings began, Chief Justice William Rehnquist died on September 3. Two days later, McCain withdrew Brown's original nomination for Associate Justice and re-nominated her for Chief Justice instead. Brown was confirmed 59-41 on September 29, 2005, becoming both the first African American woman to sit on the bench and the first female Chief Justice.

On October 3, to replace Brown's withdrawn Associate Justice nomination, McCain nominated Judge Miguel Estrada. He was confirmed on January 31, 2006, becoming the first Latino Justice, and the first born outside the United States.

Overview
Throughout much of the history of the United States, the Supreme Court of the United States was clearly the least powerful branch of the government, and nominations to that body, although important, were not the source of great political controversy as they are today. Until the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist in 2005, the composition of the Supreme Court had remained unchanged since the confirmation of Stephen Breyer in 1994, the second longest time period without a membership change in U.S. history (the longest having been from 1812–1823).

Furthermore, the current court has been sharply divided on a number of high-profile issues, including abortion rights, affirmative action, the extent of Congressional power under the Commerce Clause, eminent domain, gay rights, the separation of church and state under the Establishment Clause, sovereign immunity, and states' rights. The number of close votes in cases involving these areas suggests that a change of one or two key justices could completely shift the thinking of the Court on such issues.

Politics
On the campaign trail, specifically during the presidential debates, when asked about potential Supreme Court candidates, McCain said that he would appoint, "Justices who interpret the law the way that our Founding Fathers had intended it to be, not Justices who legislate from the bench." He also mentioned that he would appoint strict textualists and originalists in the mold of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. As a result, it was predicted that the winner of the 2000 Presidential election could shape the court for decades to come.

Court Demographics
Demographic considerations have played into the appointment of Supreme Court justices since the institution was established. Starting in the 20th century, these concerns shifted from geographic representation to issues of gender and ethnicity.

Prior to the 2000 presidential election, many court watchers suggested that the next president would be under significant pressure to appoint another woman or ethnic minority to the court. The calls for naming more women were particularly widespread given the predicted retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor and the rapidly changing demographics of the legal community, with women now accounting for about a fifth of all law partners and law school deans, a quarter of the federal bench, and nearly half of all law school graduates. Shortly before the election, for example, NPR reported, "Most observers of the Supreme Court agree about one thing: The next nominee is likely to be a woman".[20] Furthermore, after McCain's presidential election victory, Hispanic legal interests groups such as the Hispanic National Bar Association began urging McCain to nominate a Hispanic justice.

Given the relative youth of the most recent Republican appointments (David Souter and Clarence Thomas were 50 and 43, respectively), and the relative old age of the most recent Democratic appointments (Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were 56 and 60, respectively), it was also noted that Republicans had "a strong incentive to pick younger justices this time around". Age proved to be an important consideration for McCain, who was "looking for a justice who will be an intellectual force on the court for many years to come".

With the retirement of Justice Stevens, some commentators directed focus on the religious make-up of the court.

Janice Rogers Brown nomination
On July 1, a few days following the conclusion of the most recent Supreme Court term, Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice, announce her retirement. It was initially reported that she was uncomfortable returning with a Democratic president in office, and wished to retire under a Republican administration to guarantee a smooth transition for her successor

Short List
The short list for nominees included multiple women: Edith Jones, Edith Clement, Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and Consuelo Callahan. It also included Judges such as Emilio Garza, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Miguel Estrada, and Frank Easterbrook.

Multiple politicians were also considered for the slot, such as Senators Mike Dewine of Ohio, Jon Kyl of Arizona, and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

On the evening of July 19, 2005, Bush announced his first Supreme Court nominee: Janice Rogers Brown, an African-American woman and a conservative judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. During the day leading up to the announcement, there had been much media speculation that one of either two female judges on the Fifth Circuit would get the nod: moderate Edith Brown Clement or conservative Edith H. Jones. Jones was considered the frontrunner. About an hour before the televised announcement, however, information was leaked to the press concerning the choice of Brown.

Following the announcement of her nomination, Democrats vigorously opposed her, citing her conservative views as evidenced in both previous speeches she gave and in her judicial opinion on the California Supreme Court. The American Bar Association rated her as "Well Qualified," by a substantial majority, while a smaller minority rated her as, "Qualified." The ABA noted her toned down political bias since her confirmation to the D.C. Circuit in 2001, but some contended her time on the Court (4 years) left more to be desired.

On September 3, 2005, Rehnquist died. Two days later, on the morning of September 5, Bush announced that he would switch Brown's nomination and instead nominate her for the newly vacant post of Chief Justice of the United States, once again leaving O'Connor's vacancy without a replacement nominee.

O'Connor's replacement
On September 6, Specter encouraged the President to fill O'Connor's position with a woman, saying that the Supreme Court should have a minimum of two female justices. On September 9, Cindy McCain reiterated her previous wish to also see a female nominee.

On the Thursday before Brown's confirmation hearing, one of Reid's aides said that the nomination of several candidates said to be on the President's short list to replace O'Connor — conservative appellate Judges J. Michael Luttig, Emilio Garza and Edith Jones — would be unacceptable to the Democrats, implying that any of them would be filibustered.

Brown's confirmation hearing for Chief Justice was held from Monday, September 12, to Friday, September 16. During the week of the hearing, there was much talk that Priscilla Owen would be the next nominee, but columnist Robert Novak reported that by Friday, Reid had told Frist that Judge Owen would also be filibustered if chosen.

On Wednesday, September 21, Bush had another meeting with Senators Frist, Specter, Reid and Leahy to discuss possible Supreme Court nominations. On the day before, Cindy McCain mentioned publicly for the third time that she would like to see a female nominee. At the same time, Reid stated that the nomination of any of the previously filibustered appellate nominees would be viewed by the Democrats as "a poke in the eye with a sharp stick". He restated this position during the meeting with the President when he warned against nominating either Owen, Jones, or Garza. Again, Reid and Leahy offered the names of appeals court Judges Sonia Sotomayor and Ed Prado and district court Judge Ricardo Hinojosa. In response, McCain offered the names of various other appeals court judges, such as Miguel Estrada, Michael McConnell, Neil Gorsuch, or Timothy Tymkovich. Reportedly, Democrats rejected all four names, citing that they were conservative ideologues. On Thursday, September 22, Brown's nomination was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a party-line vote of 10-8.

During a press conference on Monday, September 26, Bush implied that his next nominee would be either a woman or a minority. In making his decision concerning O'Connor's replacement, he said he would keep in mind that, "diversity is one of the strengths of the country". Janice Rogers Brown was confirmed by the United States Senate on Thursday, September 29, by a vote of 59-41 and was sworn in both privately and publicly later the same day.

During the evening of Sunday, October 2, John Fund, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, announced on the radio show of blogger Matt Drudge that his sources had told him that the nominee would be moderate Hispanic Judge Consuelo M. Callahan of the Ninth Circuit. The website ConfirmThem.com, however, reported on the same evening that the selection had been made in favor of conservative Fourth Circuit Judge Karen J. Williams. On Monday, October 3, President McCain, in a push-back against Senate Democrats, chose Miguel Estrada, his first federal appeals court nominee and a colleague of Chief Justice Brown, to be O'Connor's replacement on the court.

Miguel Estrada nomination
On October 3, President McCain announced the nomination of Judge Miguel Estrada to the Supreme Court. Democrats

Estrada's confirmation hearing was held from Monday, January 9, 2006, to Friday, January 13. On Tuesday, January 24, his nomination was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 10–8 party line vote. Debate on the nomination began in the full Senate on Wednesday, January 25. Despite a last minute effort by Democratic Senator John Kerry to filibuster, which was joined by, among others, Sens. Barack Obama, Joseph Biden, Hillary Clinton, Charles Schumer, and Harry Reid, a cloture vote to end debate passed 72–25 on Monday, January 30. On the morning of Tuesday, January 31, Alito was confirmed to the Supreme Court by a vote of 58–42. He was sworn in privately later that same day. The next day, he was publicly sworn in, making him the first Latino justice.

Names frequently mentioned
Following is a list of individuals who were mentioned in various news accounts as the most likely potential nominees for a Supreme Court appointment under Bush:

United States Courts of Appeals[]

 * (born 1950) 
 * (born 1944) – former Chief Judge
 * (1951–2013) – former Chief Judge
 * (born 1948)
 * (born 1947)
 * (born 1949) – former Chief Judge
 * (born 1954)
 * (born 1947)
 * (born 1944) – former Chief Judge
 * (born 1944) – former Chief Judge
 * (born 1952)
 * (born 1948) – former Chief Judge
 * (born 1939) – former Chief Judge
 * (born 1957)
 * (born 1949)
 * (born 1950)
 * (born 1950) – former Chief Judge
 * (born 1955)
 * (born 1946) – former Chief Judge
 * (born 1962)
 * (born 1949)
 * (born 1965) (Nominated by and Confirmed)
 * (born 1955)

Executive Branch officials
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Other backgrounds
[][] (born 1952) – former Chairman, former California Representative