Know a Nominee: Eric Miller to the Ninth Circuit Court

(Update 2/26/19) The Senate confirmed Eric D. Miller on a 53-46 vote Tuesday afternoon. Countable's original profile of the nominee appears below.

The Senate is expected to consider the nomination of Eric D. Miller to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week. Here’s what you need to know about the nominee.

Who is he?

• Eric D. Miller, 43, is a lawyer in Seattle, Washington with the firm Perkins Coie and chairs the firm’s appellate practice and has argued over 60 appeals, including 16 in the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Prior to joining the firm in 2012, Miller worked in various legal roles for the federal government from 2003 to 2012, including stints with the Office of Legal Counsel, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Office of the Solicitor General.
• Miller is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School who went on to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

What’s the outlook for his confirmation?

• Miller’s home state senators, Washington Democrats Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, haven’t signaled their support for his nomination by returning a “blue slip”, but the Senate Judiciary Committee no longer halts nominations over the lack of a blue slip.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Miller’s nomination on a party-line 12-10 vote on February 7, 2019.

What does it mean for the Ninth Circuit?

• Miller’s confirmation would fill a vacancy on the 29-judge Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that occurred when Richard Tallman assumed senior status in March 2018. Miller’s duty station would be Seattle.
• The Ninth Circuit is currently composed of 23 judges of whom nine were appointed by Bill Clinton, five by George W. Bush, seven by Barack Obama, and two by Donald Trump (there are six vacancies prior to Miller’s confirmation).

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock / imaginima)