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Michael B. Brennan (Wisconsin)

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Michael B. Brennan

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Tenure

2018 - Present

Years in position

Education

Bachelor's

University of Notre Dame, 1986

Law

Northwestern University School of Law, 1989

Personal

Birthplace

Milwaukee, Wis.

Michael B. Brennan is a judge on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. He was nominated to the court by PresidentDonald Trump (R) on January 8, 2018, and confirmed by theU.S. Senate on May 10, 2018, by a vote of 49-46.^[1]^[2] To see a full list of judges appointed byDonald Trump,click here.

TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit is one of 13U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediateappellate courts of theUnited States federal courts. To learn more about the 7th Circuit Court,click here.

At the time of his nomination, he was a partner in theMilwaukee, Wisconsin-based office of Gass, Weber, Mullins LLC.^[3]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

See also:Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

Brennan was nominated to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit by PresidentDonald Trump (R) on January 8, 2018. TheU.S. Senate confirmed Brennan on May 10, 2018, by a vote of 49-46.^[2] He received commission on May 11, 2018.^[3] To read more about the federal nomination process,click here.

Nomination Tracker

Nominee Information
Name: Michael B. Brennan
Court:United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 280 days after nomination.
ANominated: August 3, 2017
AABA Rating:Unanimously Well Qualified (with one abstention)
Questionnaire:Questionnaire
AHearing:

QFRs:(Hover over QFRs to read more)

AReported: February 15, 2018
AConfirmed: May 10, 2018
AVote: 49-46

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Brennan on May 10, 2018, on a vote of 49-46.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website,click here.

Michael B. Brennan confirmation vote (May 10, 2018)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	0	44	3
Republican	49	0	2
Independent	0	2	0
Total	49	46	5

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

Brennan had his hearing before theSenate Judiciary Committee on January 24, 2018. The committee voted to advance Brennan's nomination to the full Senate on February 15, 2018.^[2]

Nomination

Brennan was nominated to replace JudgeTerence Evans, who served on the court until his death on August 10, 2011.

TheAmerican Bar Association unanimously rated Brennanwell qualified for the position, with one abstention.^[4] To read more about ABA ratings,click here.

Education

Brennan received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1986 and hisJ.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 1989. During a period of his legal studies, Brennan served as the coordinating note and comment editor of theNorthwestern University Law Review. He also won the Julius H. Miner Moot Court Competition during law school.^[1]^[5]

Professional career

2018-Present: Judge,United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
2008-2018: Private practice,Milwaukee, Wis.
2000-2008: Judge,Milwaukee County Circuit Court
1997-1999: Assistant district attorney,Milwaukee County
1995-1997: Law clerk, Hon.Daniel A. Manion,United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
1991-1995: Private practice, Milwaukee, Wis.
1994: Adjunct professor, Marquette University Law School
1989-1991: Law clerk, Hon.Robert W. Warren,United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin^[1]^[5]

About the court

Seventh Circuit
Court of Appeals

Judgeships
Posts: 11
Judges: 11
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief:Michael B. Brennan
Active judges:Michael B. Brennan,Frank Easterbrook,Candace Jackson-Akiwumi,Thomas L. Kirsch II,Joshua Kolar,John Z. Lee,Nancy Maldonado,Doris Pryor,Michael Scudder,Amy St. Eve,Rebecca Taibleson Senior judges: William Bauer,David Hamilton,Daniel Manion,Kenneth Ripple,Ilana Rovner,Diane Sykes,Diane Wood

TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is afederal appellate court with appellatejurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to theSupreme Court of the United States.

Appeals are heard in the Everett M. Dirksen Federal Building in downtownChicago.

Three judges of the Seventh Circuit went on to serve on theSupreme Court of the United States.Sherman Minton was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1949 byHarry Truman (D),John Paul Stevens was appointed in 1975 byGerald Ford (R), andAmy Coney Barrett was appointed in 2020 byDonald Trump (R).

Map of the Seventh Circuit. Click on a district to find out more about it.

The 7th Circuit hasappellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to theSupreme Court of the United States. JusticeBrett Kavanaugh is thecircuit justice for the 7th Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has appellatejurisdiction over thecourts in the followingdistricts:

To read opinions published by this court, click[1].

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by theSenate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends ablue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.