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Steven Menashi

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Steven Menashi

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit

Tenure

2019 - Present

Years in position

Education

Bachelor's

Dartmouth College, 2001

Law

Stanford Law School, 2008

Personal

Birthplace

White Plains, NY

Contact

Official website

Steven Menashi is a judge on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. He was nominated to the court by PresidentDonald Trump (R) on September 9, 2019. TheU.S. Senate confirmed Menashi on November 14, 2019, by a vote of 51-41. He received commission the same day.^[1]^[2] To see a full list of judges appointed byDonald Trump,click here.

TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit is one of 13U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediateappellate courts of theUnited States federal courts. To learn more about the court,click here.

Menashi was a special assistant and associate counsel to President Trump from 2018 to 2019.^[3]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit

See also:Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

On September 9, 2019, PresidentDonald Trump (R) nominated Menashi to a seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. TheU.S. Senate confirmed Menashi on November 14, 2019, by a vote of 51-41.^[1] To read more about the federal nominations process,click here.

Nomination Tracker

Nominee Information
Name: Steven Menashi
Court:United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 66 days after nomination.
ANominated: September 9, 2019
AABA Rating:Majority well qualified/Minority qualified
Questionnaire:Questionnaire
AHearing: September 11, 2019

QFRs:QFRs(Hover over QFRs to read more)

AReported: November 7, 2019
AConfirmed: November 14, 2019
AVote: 51-41

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Menashi on November 14, 2019, on a vote of 51-41.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website,click here.

Menashi confirmation vote (November 14, 2019)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	0	39	6
Republican	51	1	1
Independent	0	1	1
Total	51	41	8

Opposition from home-state senators

See also:Blue slip (federal judicial nominations)

SenatorsKirsten Gillibrand (D) andChuck Schumer (D) of New York issued a statement opposing Menashi's nomination.^[4]

Senate Judiciary Committee

TheSenate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Menashi's nomination on September 11, 2019.^[5] The committee voted 12-10 on November 7 to advance the nomination to the full Senate.^[6]

Opposition from senators during committee hearing

Democratic and Republican senators expressed frustration with Menashi during his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 11. Menashi said he could not answer some of the questions about his work in the White House during the Trump administration, citing confidentiality concerns.^[7]

In response to questions from Sen.Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on whether Menashi had advised senior policy advisorStephen Miller, Menashi said, "My role was to provide advice to policy advisers to the president. I did sometimes provide advice on issues, among many issues, on issues related to immigration." Menashi later added, "I can’t, consistent with my duty of confidentiality to the White House, talk about particular, you know, particular instances on which I worked."^[8]

Feinstein said of Menashi's answers: "I’ve been on this committee for 26 years, seen a lot of nominees. No one has ever used, 'Well, I’m not authorized to talk about it.'"^[8]

Senate Judiciary ChairmanLindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen.John Kennedy (R-La.) expressed disappointment that Menashi did not provide more specifics when answering questions. "Counsel, you’re a really smart guy but I wish you’d be more forthcoming," Kennedy said.^[9]

Sen.Mike Lee (R-Utah) supported Menashi, saying, "It is not appropriate to beat up Mr. Menashi on the basis of permission he has not been granted to reveal confidential information."^[10] Sen.Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Menashi was subjected to "unusually vicious and personal attacks."^[7]

Nomination

On August 14, 2019, PresidentDonald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Menashi to a seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.^[11] The U.S. Senate officially received the nomination September 9.^[1]

Menashi was nominated to succeed JudgeDennis Jacobs, who assumedsenior status May 31, 2019.^[1]

TheAmerican Bar Association rated Menashiwell qualified by a majority andqualified by a minority.^[12] To read more about ABA ratings,click here.

Early life and education

Menashi was born inWhite Plains, New York, in 1979. He earned his B.A.,magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 2001. He obtained hisJ.D., with distinction, from Stanford Law School, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif, in 2008. During his legal studies, Menashi served as senior articles editor of theStanford Law Review.^[11]^[3]

Professional career

2019-present: Judge,United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
2018-2019: Special assistant and associate counsel to PresidentDonald Trump (R)
2017-2018:U.S. Department of Education
- 2018: Principal deputy general counsel
- 2017-2018: Acting general counsel
2011-2017: Kirkland & Ellis LLP inNew York
- 2016-2017: Of counsel
- 2015-2016: Partner
- 2013-2015: Of counsel
- 2011-2013: Associate
2010-2011: Law clerk to JusticeSamuel Alito,Supreme Court of the United States
2008-2009: Law clerk to JudgeDouglas Ginsburg,United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
2004-2005: Editorial writer,The New York Sun
2001-2004: Hoover Institution
- 2002-2004: Associate editor,Policy Review
- 2002-2004: Public Affairs fellow
- 2001-2002: Assistant editor,Policy Review^[3]

About the court

Second Circuit
Court of Appeals

Judgeships
Posts: 13
Judges: 13
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief:Debra Livingston
Active judges:Joseph Bianco,Maria Araujo Kahn,Eunice Lee,Debra Livingston,Raymond Lohier,Steven Menashi,Sarah Ann Leilani Merriam,William Nardini,Alison J. Nathan,Michael H. Park,Myrna Pérez,Beth Robinson,Richard Sullivan Senior judges: Jose Cabranes,Guido Calabresi,Susan L. Carney,Denny Chin,Dennis Jacobs,Amalya Kearse,Pierre Leval,Gerard Lynch,Jon Newman,Barrington Parker, Jr.,Rosemary Pooler,Reena Raggi,Robert Sack,Chester Straub,John Walker,Richard Wesley

TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second 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 Thurgood Marshall Federal Courthouse inNew York City.

Four judges of the Second Circuit went on to serve on theSupreme Court of the United States. John Marshall Harlan II was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1955 byDwight Eisenhower, Thurgood Marshall was appointed in 1967 by Lyndon Johnson, andSonia Sotomayor was appointed in 2009 byBarack Obama.

The 2nd 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 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to theSupreme Court of the United States. JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg is thecircuit justice for the 2nd Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit's territory comprises the states ofConnecticut,New York, andVermont. The court hasappellate jurisdiction over the United States district courts in the following federal judicial districts:

To read opinions published by this court, clickhere.

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

Below is a display of the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

Democratic appointed: 7
Republican appointed: 5

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.