University of Pittsburgh Law Review May 7, 2025
Russell Wheeler published a retrospective on the 1980 Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, reflecting on its 45 years and where it stands today.
Russell Wheeler is a nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program. From 1977 until 2005, when he joined Brookings as a guest scholar, he was with the Federal Judicial Center, the federal courts’ research and education agency, serving as deputy director since 1991. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in political science in 1970. Wheeler is a senior fellow at the Administrative Conference of the United States and at the University of Denver’s Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. He is a member of the advisory board of the Katzmann Initiative at Brookings. From 2001 until 2020, he was an adjunct professor at the Washington College of Law, American University. From 2007 until 2012 he was the United States’ representative to the board of directors of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas in Santiago, Chile. He has posted regularly on the FixGov blog from the Center for Effective Public Management at Brookings and has published articles in numerous academic journals on judicial selection and education, judges’ extrajudicial activities, judicial independence and accountability, and judicial governance.
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Current Positions
- President, Governance Institute
- Adjunct Professor Washington College of Law, American University
- Public Member, Administrative Conference of the United States
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Past Positions
- Deputy Director, Federal Judicial Center
- Senior Staff Associate, Court Planning Project, National Center for State Courts
- Judicial Fellow and Research Associate, Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
- Assistant Professor of Political Science, Texas Tech University
- Board of Editors, Justice System Journal
- President, Board of Directors, Justice Studies Center of the Americas, Santiago, Chile
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Education
- Ph.D., Political Science, University of Chicago, 1970
- M.A., Political Science, University of Chicago, 1968
- B.A., Augustana College, Illinois, 1965
USA Today February 15, 2025
Russell Wheeler’s data on judicial nominations and confirmations from the Courts and Congress Index was cited by USA Today.
CNN December 5, 2024
Mitch McConnell ‘may be having the effect he wants’ if the two appellate judges are ‘wavering’ about whether to keep to their retirement plans.
NPR November 22, 2024
Russell Wheeler spoke to NPR about how the Trump administration will have a good chance to change the makeup of the federal courts quite dramatically.
Salon November 22, 2024
If this deal will get possibly 13 more district judges through I think it’s all in all a good thing for the Democrats.
NPR November 15, 2024
We could be looking at Trump judiciary for the next generation or so.
Salon November 11, 2024
Democrats let through 13 Trump nominees after he lost the election. Fair play means that you should let through at least 13 Biden nominees but that logic doesn’t work anymore.
NBC News October 5, 2024
Both McConnell and Schumer have set their sights on getting judges confirmed.
CBS News September 20, 2024
The decisions of district judges are binding on no other judges, while the decisions of the courts of appeals are theoretically precedents for all the district judges in the circuit...."
Roll Call August 29, 2024
Biden could beat Trump’s overall [judicial] confirmation figure, but Biden’s final number will depend on how often Senate leadership gets majority votes in a divided chamber.
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