President George W. Bush (R) today nominated Harriet Miers to become the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, following the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Miers has never been a judge, but was president of the Texas State Bar Association, served on the Dallas City Council, and has recently been a White House counsel.
She is viewed as a conservative, but White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in a press conference that Miers’s nomination was suggested by both Democrats and Republicans.
Bush had previously nominated John Roberts Jr. to the Associate Justice position, but withdrew that nomination following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and re-nominated Roberts for the higher position. Roberts was sworn in as Chief Justice on Friday after receiving a decisive Senate confirmation (78-22).