united-states federal-courts
Appying for positions on the federal bench?
<p>In the U.S.A. when a federal judgeship is vacant, do candidates apply to the president for it, or must they simply wait for him to ask them? Does that include vacancies on the Supreme Court?</p>

<p>(Things have changed since 1791, but I don't know whether that's one of them. If I'm not mistaken, I read that Nathaniel Chipman applied to George Washington for the position of judge of the newly created federal court in Vermont.)</p>

<p>In conformity with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appointments_Clause" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Appointments Clause</a>, the president appoints federal judges. The the <a href="http://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/authorized-judgeships/judgeship-appointments-president" rel="nofollow noreferrer">US Courts info page</a> says, a Senator or Representative may make a recommendation. An interested party could then make himself known to a senator or the president, but I would be surprised if that resulted in the person being nominated by the president. </p>
