Two graduates and a professor from Pritzker School of Law have been nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, potentially joining three other Northwestern alumni serving on the court.

The White House announced in a Monday news release the nominations of U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve of the Northern District of Illinois and Pritzker alumnus Michael Scudder (School of Law ’98), a partner at a multinational law firm with an office in Chicago.

If confirmed, the two may join NU alumnus Michael Brennan (School of Law ’89), a partner at a Milwaukee law firm who was narrowly advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, and fill the remaining vacancies in the Circuit Court, which presides over Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

The nominations are a part of President Donald Trump’s plan to fill vacancies in the nation’s appellate courts with young and conservative judges. Democrats have little power to stop the Republican Senate majority, as demonstrated in Brennan’s confirmation when a GOP chairman ignored Senate tradition relating to judicial nominations.

St. Eve, an adjunct professor in the the School of Law, was nominated to the District Court by President George Bush in 2002. She previously served as an assistant attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and an associate independent counsel for the investigation into the the Whitewater scandal.

Before practicing civil litigation and white collar defense, Scudder served as counsel to the White House and President Barack Obama before advising the National Security Council. Scudder also served as an assistant attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

No confirmation hearing dates have been set.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Michael Brennan’s confirmation status. Brennan has yet to be confirmed by a full vote of the Senate. The Daily regrets the error.
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