Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination

On October 3, 2005, Harriet Miers was nominated for Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by President George W. Bush to replace retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers was, at the time, White House Counsel, and had previously served in several roles both during Bush's tenure as Governor of Texas and President.

Miers's nomination was negatively received across the political spectrum, with critics charging that she did not have enough judicial experience to sit on the court. Conservative commentator David Frum castigated the selection as an "unforced error", and Robert Bork (himself a failed Supreme Court nominee) denounced it a "disaster" and "a slap in the face to the conservatives who've been building up a conservative legal movement for the last 20 years." Hearings before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to begin on November 7, and members of the Republican leadership had stated before the nomination that they aimed to have the nominee confirmed before Thanksgiving (November 24). Miers withdrew her nomination on October 27, 2005, and Bush nominated Samuel Alito four days later.