Whitney Hermandorfer

Sixth Circuit
	Court of Appeals
Judgeships
	Posts: 16
	Judges: 16
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Jeffrey Sutton
	Active judges: Rachel Bloomekatz, John K. Bush, Eric Clay, Stephanie Dawkins Davis, Richard Griffin, Whitney Hermandorfer, Raymond Kethledge, Joan Larsen, Andre Mathis, Karen Moore, Eric Murphy, John Nalbandian, Chad Readler, Kevin Ritz, Jeffrey Sutton, Amul Thapar; Senior judges:; Alice Batchelder, Danny Boggs, R. Guy Cole Jr., Deborah Cook, Martha Daughtrey, Julia Gibbons, Ronald Gilman, Ralph Guy, David McKeague, Alan Norris, John M. Rogers, James Ryan, Eugene Siler, Richard Suhrheinrich, Helene White

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Whitney Hermandorfer
	Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Progress
	Confirmed 63 days after nomination.
	Nominated: May 12, 2025
	ABA Rating: Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: June 4, 2025
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: June 26, 2025
	Confirmed: July 14, 2025
	Vote: 46-42

Whitney Hermandorfer is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump (R) on May 12, 2025, and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 14, 2025, by a vote of 46-42.^[1]^[2]^[3] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is one of 13 U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Hermandorfer was the director of the strategic litigation unit for the Tennessee Attorney General's Office.^[4]^[1]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (2025-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

On May 1, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Hermandorfer to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.^[1] He officially nominated Hermandorfer on May 12, 2025. She was confirmed by a 46-42 vote of the U.S. Senate on July 14, 2025.^[2] Hermandorfer received commission on July 17, 2025. To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Hermandorfer by a vote of 46-42 on July 14, 2025.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Hermandorfer confirmation vote (July 14, 2025)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	0	40	5
Republican	46	0	7
Independent	0	2	0
Total	46^[5]	42	12

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

Hermandorfer was reported to the full Senate on June 26, 2025, after a 12-10 committee vote.^[4]

Nomination

On May 1, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Whitney Hermandorfer to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He officially nominated Hermandorfer on May 12, 2025.^[2] As of May 12, 2025, Hermandorfer was a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Click here for a list of other nominees who have been nominated by President Donald Trump.

Hermandorfer was nominated to replace Judge Jane Stranch, who announced that she would assume senior status upon the confirmation of her successor.^[6]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Hermandorfer well qualified.^[7] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Education

Hermandorfer was born in 1987 in Clearwater, Florida. She earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 2009 and a law degree from George Washington University Law School in 2015.^[3]

Professional career

2025-present: Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
2023-2025: Office of the Attorney General and Reporter, State of Tennessee
- 2023-2025: assistant solicitor general
- 2023-2024: director, Strategic Litigation Unit
2023: Adjunct professor, George Washington University Law School
2015-2016, 2019-2020, 2021-2023: Private practice, Washington, D.C.
2020-2021: Law clerk, Hon. Amy Coney Barrett, Supreme Court of the United States
2018-2019: Law clerk, Hon. Samuel Alito, Supreme Court of the United States
2017-2018: Law clerk, Hon. Richard Leon, United States District Court for the District of Columbia
2016-2017: Law clerk, Hon. Brett Kavanaugh, United States District Court for the District of Columbia^[3]

About the court

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Sixth Circuit has 16 authorized judicial posts. The chief judge of the court is Jeffrey Sutton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush (R). Six of the judges on the court were appointed by Donald Trump (R).

Appeals are heard in the Potter Stewart United States Courthouse in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Four judges of the Sixth Circuit went on to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Howell Edmunds Jackson was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1893 by Benjamin Harrison (R), William R. Day was appointed in 1903 by Theodore Roosevelt (R), Horace Harmon Lurton was appointed in 1909 by William Howard Taft (R), and Potter Stewart was appointed in 1958 by Dwight Eisenhower (R).

The Sixth Circuit has appellate 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 Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Brett Kavanaugh is the circuit justice for the Sixth Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over the United States district courts in the following federal judicial districts:

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

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 the Senate 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 a blue 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.