Brett Kavanaugh

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Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Brett M. Kavanaugh (born February 12, 1965 in Washington, D.C.) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He formerly was Staff Secretary in the Executive Office of the President of the United States under President George W. Bush.

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[edit] Background

Kavanaugh was born on February 12, 1965 in Washington, D.C., and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, the son of Edward and Martha Kavanaugh. He is a Roman Catholic and graduated from the Georgetown Preparatory School before going to Yale College.

He received his B.A. from Yale and his law degree from Yale Law School, where he served as Notes Editor of the Yale Law Journal. He is married to Ashley Estes, a native of Abilene, Texas, who formerly served as Personal Secretary to the President in the White House at the same time as her future husband. They have one daughter.

Kavanaugh clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, as well as Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit and Judge Walter Stapleton of the Third Circuit. Prior to his Supreme Court clerkship, Kavanaugh earned a one-year fellowship in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States, Kenneth Starr. The Solicitor General's office represents the United States before the Supreme Court.

Kavanaugh was later a partner at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, where his practice focused on appellate matters. Kavanaugh also served as an Associate Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel, where he handled a number of the novel constitutional and legal issues presented during that investigation and was a principal author of the Starr Report to Congress on the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton and Vincent Foster investigation.[1]

Kavanaugh is sworn in by Justice Anthony Kennedy as President Bush and wife Ashley Kavanaugh look on.
Kavanaugh is sworn in by Justice Anthony Kennedy as President Bush and wife Ashley Kavanaugh look on.

After George W. Bush became president in 2001, Kavanaugh served for two years as Senior Associate Counsel and Associate Counsel to the President. In that capacity, he worked on the numerous constitutional, legal, and ethical issues handled by that office. Starting in 2003, he served as Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary. In that capacity, he was responsible for coordinating all documents to and from the president.

[edit] D.C. Circuit nomination and confirmation

President George W. Bush first nominated Kavanaugh to the D.C. Circuit on July 25, 2003, but his nomination was stalled in the Senate for nearly three years. The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended confirmation on a 10-8 party-line vote on May 11, 2006, and Kavanaugh was thereafter confirmed [2] by the U.S. Senate on May 26, 2006 by a vote of 57-36. On June 1, 2006, he was officially sworn in by Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom he had previously clerked, during a special Rose Garden ceremony at the White House.[1] Kavanaugh began hearing cases on September 11, 2006 and had his formal investiture on September 27 at the Prettyman Courthouse.

Kavanaugh is Bush's fourth appointment to the D.C. Circuit. He replaced Judge Laurence H. Silberman, who took Senior status in November 2000. His first published opinion was released on November 17, 2006. He authored the opinion of the court for a unanimous three-judge panel in the case of National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. v. FERC.

In July 2007 two leading liberal Democratic Senators accused Kavanaugh of "misleading" the Senate committee during his nomination stemming from the Bush White House detention policy.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^  Associated Press, June 1, 2006, "President Celebrates Judge's Swearing-In" by Deb Riechmann
  1. ^ Judicial Nominations - Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh
  2. ^ U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote
  3. ^ 2 Senators Accuse Judge of Misleading Committee - New York Times

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Laurence H. Silberman		 Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
2006-present		 Succeeded by
incumbent