David McKeague

David William McKeague (born November 5, 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

David McKeague
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Assumed office
November 1, 2017
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
In office
June 10, 2005  November 1, 2017
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byRichard Fred Suhrheinrich
Succeeded byJoan Larsen
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
In office
February 10, 1992  June 13, 2005
Appointed byGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byDouglas Woodruff Hillman
Succeeded byJanet T. Neff
Personal details
Born (1946-11-05) November 5, 1946
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
EducationUniversity of Michigan (BA)
University of Michigan Law School (JD)

Education and career

McKeague received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1968, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1971. He served in private practice in Lansing, Michigan until 1992. He was also an adjunct professor at Michigan State University College of Law from 1998 to 2013.[1]

Federal judicial service

District Court service

McKeague was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on September 11, 1991, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan vacated by Judge Douglas Woodruff Hillman. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 6, 1992, and received commission on February 10, 1992. His service terminated on June 13, 2005, due to elevation to the Sixth Circuit.[1]

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals service

On November 8, 2001, McKeague was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated by the Judge Richard Fred Suhrheinrich, who had taken senior status the previous summer. On the same day, Bush also nominated Henry Saad and Susan Bieke Neilson to Michigan seats on the Sixth Circuit. On June 26, 2002, Bush nominated Richard Allen Griffin to a fourth Michigan seat on the Sixth Circuit. During the Democrat-controlled 107th Congress, all four nominations were stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee by then chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT.[1]

In the 2002 midterm congressional elections, the Republicans regained control of the Senate. During the new 108th Congress, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the new Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee began to process the previously blocked four nominees. In March 2003, Michigan's two Democratic senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow announced that they would blue-slip all Bush judicial nominees from Michigan because Bush refused to renominate Helene White and Kathleen McCree Lewis, two Michigan nominees to the Sixth Circuit whose nominations the Senate Republicans had refused to process during President Bill Clinton's second term. Helene White at the time was married to Levin's cousin.[2]

Overriding Levin and Stabenow, Hatch gave Saad, McKeague and Griffin committee hearings, and passed the three nominees out of committee. Furious, Levin and Stabenow convinced their caucus to filibuster the three to prevent them from having confirmation votes.

Senate Republicans increased their numbers in the 109th Congress. Tensions between the Republicans and Democrats rose dramatically as the Republicans sought to break the filibusters of ten Bush court of appeals nominees (including Saad, McKeague and Griffin) by using the nuclear option. In order to defuse the explosive situation concerning the use of the nuclear option and Democrats' obstruction of President Bush's judicial nominations, fourteen moderate Republican and Democratic senators called the Gang of 14 joined together to forge an agreement to guarantee certain filibustered nominations up or down votes. Henry Saad and William Myers, however, were expressly excluded from the guarantee.

Following the 2005 Gang of 14 compromise, McKeague was given a vote along with fellow Sixth Circuit nominee Richard Allen Griffin. Both Levin and Stabenow ultimately voted in favor of McKeague on June 9, 2005 when he was confirmed by the full United States Senate 96-0.[3] McKeague was the fifth judge nominated to the Sixth Circuit by Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. He received his commission on June 10, 2005.[1]

In April 2017, McKeague announced his plan to go on senior status as soon as his replacement was seated.[4][5]

On November 1, 2017, he assumed senior status after the confirmation and subsequent commissioning of Joan Larsen as his successor.

See also

References

  1. "McKeague, David William - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  2. http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york032003.asp
  3. "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session".
  4. Oosting, Jonathan (April 20, 2017). "Michigan judge creating vacancy for Trump to fill". Detroit News. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  5. Palmer, Ken (April 20, 2017). "Federal Judge McKeague to go on senior status". USA Today. Lansing State Journal. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Douglas Woodruff Hillman
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
1992–2005
Succeeded by
Janet T. Neff
Preceded by
Richard Fred Suhrheinrich
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
2005–2017
Succeeded by
Joan Larsen
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