Senators questioned Whitney Hermandorfer Wednesday in a committee hearing — an early step in the Nashville attorney’s path to a lifetime appointment on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Hermandorfer, a rising star in conservative legal circles, was raised in Franklin and attended the Harpeth Hall school, Princeton University and George Washington University Law School before earning several prestigious clerkships with conservative jurists.
President Donald Trump appointed Hermandorfer for the appellate seat left vacant by outgoing federal judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, an Obama appointee who plans to take senior status at the regional appellate court. Former President Joe Biden had nominated Nashville attorney Karla Campbell for the seat in June, only to have Senate Democrats give up her confirmation in a deal with Republicans. As one of 13 regional appellate courts that sit just below the U.S. Supreme Court in the federal judiciary, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals fields cases appealed from federal district courts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan.
Chamber swap leaves powerful appellate bench seat open for Trump, ending nomination process for Nashville attorney Karla Campbell
Hermandorfer previously clerked for three sitting Supreme Court justices — Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh — and remains highly connected to conservative legal networks, including the Federalist Society, which she has represented at multiple recent events. Before attending law school, Hermandorfer worked as a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. In 2023, Hermandorfer joined Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s new Strategic Litigation Unit, a handpicked team focused on appealing and arguing constitutional matters, as its first director.
Her work at the Tennessee Attorney General’s office includes defending the state’s broad abortion ban and leading the state’s arguments in Tennessee v. Cardona, in which the state sued to prevent an effort by the Biden administration to expand Title IX protections to include gender identity. Under Skrmetti, the state has frequently been a party to, or publicly supportive of, efforts to advance Republicans’ social and political agenda. This includes defending the state’s ban on certain gender-affirming health care for youth in U.S. v Skrmetti, which is still pending in front of the Supreme Court. Senators also questioned Hermandorfer about Tennessee’s amicus brief in Trump v. Casa, Inc. supporting the president’s executive order challenging birthright citizenship.
In Wednesday's hearing, Democrats focused on the relative lack of experience Hermandorfer, who graduated law school 10 years ago, brings to the federal bench. They also pushed Hermandorfer to agree that the executive branch, including the president, was subject to court orders, and outlining various constitutional-crisis scenarios, asked her whether she would defend the rule of law over executive power.
Conservative-majority court is expected to rule in the late spring
“If there is a judgment issued by a court, as to the parties, that binds the parties,” Hermandorfer told Sen. Dick Durbin with regard to the court’s authority. “The way to go about your business if you disagree is a stay, emergency relief or appellate review.”
Republican defenders — including Tennessee's senior U.S. senator and Senate Judiciary Committee member Marsha Blackburn, who introduced Hermandorfer — pointed to her star-studded clerkship résumé and commitment to originalist jurisprudence.
“If the meaning of the text, at the time it was adopted or enacted, was clear, then that is the meaning that fixes your interpretation and governs the legal issue that might be before the court,” Hermandorfer explained to Blackburn midway through the hearing.
While Skrmetti released a statement in May calling Hermandorfer a “rock star,” civil and reproductive rights advocacy groups oppose Hermandorfer’s nomination, citing her history arguing against abortion access, birthright citizenship and environmental protections and in favor of expanded executive power.
“At a time when so many of our fundamental civil rights are under attack, we need to trust that our judges will impartially and fairly rule on cases without bias or animus,” reads a letter sent to senators from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “Unfortunately, a careful review of Ms. Hermandorfer’s record shows a demonstrated hostility towards our civil and human rights that is disqualifying for a judicial nominee.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee has not scheduled a vote to advance Hermandorfer’s appointment to the Senate floor for confirmation, though the Republican-controlled chamber is expected to approve Hermandorfer’s lifetime appointment to the federal bench.
