Michael Brian Brennan
Appointed by President Donald J. Trump in 2018 and confirmed by the Senate 49–46, Michael Brian Brennan is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He earned a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law (now Pritzker School of Law) in 1989. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1963 · age 63
- Appointed by
- Donald J. Trump, 2018
- Confirmed
- 49–46
- Education
- University of Notre Dame 1986 · Northwestern Law (now Pritzker School of Law) 1989
- Succeeded
- Terence Thomas Evans
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Seventh Circuit succeeded Terence Thomas Evans | Trump (R) | 49–46 |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.
Confirmation vote
Nomination Confirmed 49–46 on May 10, 2018 · 115th Congress, Roll Call 89. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.
Voted to confirm · 49
49 R
- Lamar Alexander(R-TN)
- John Barrasso(R-WY)
- Roy Blunt(R-MO)
- John Boozman(R-AR)
- Richard Burr(R-NC)
- Shelley Capito(R-WV)
- Bill Cassidy(R-LA)
- Susan Collins(R-ME)
- Bob Corker(R-TN)
- John Cornyn(R-TX)
- Tom Cotton(R-AR)
- Mike Crapo(R-ID)
- Ted Cruz(R-TX)
- Steve Daines(R-MT)
- Mike Enzi(R-WY)
- Joni Ernst(R-IA)
- Deb Fischer(R-NE)
- Jeff Flake(R-AZ)
- Cory Gardner(R-CO)
- Charles Grassley(R-IA)
- Orrin Hatch(R-UT)
- Dean Heller(R-NV)
- John Hoeven(R-ND)
- Cindy Hyde-Smith(R-MS)
- Jim Inhofe(R-OK)
- John Isakson(R-GA)
- Ron Johnson(R-WI)
- John Kennedy(R-LA)
- James Lankford(R-OK)
- Mike Lee(R-UT)
- Mitch McConnell(R-KY)
- Jerry Moran(R-KS)
- Lisa Murkowski(R-AK)
- Rand Paul(R-KY)
- David Perdue(R-GA)
- Rob Portman(R-OH)
- James Risch(R-ID)
- Pat Roberts(R-KS)
- Mike Rounds(R-SD)
- Marco Rubio(R-FL)
- Ben Sasse(R-NE)
- Tim Scott(R-SC)
- Richard Shelby(R-AL)
- Dan Sullivan(R-AK)
- John Thune(R-SD)
- Thomas Tillis(R-NC)
- Patrick Toomey(R-PA)
- Roger Wicker(R-MS)
- Todd Young(R-IN)
Voted against · 46
44 D, 2 I
- Tammy Baldwin(D-WI)
- Michael Bennet(D-CO)
- Richard Blumenthal(D-CT)
- Sherrod Brown(D-OH)
- Maria Cantwell(D-WA)
- Ben Cardin(D-MD)
- Thomas Carper(D-DE)
- Bob Casey(D-PA)
- Catherine Cortez Masto(D-NV)
- Joe Donnelly(D-IN)
- Richard Durbin(D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein(D-CA)
- Kirsten Gillibrand(D-NY)
- Kamala Harris(D-CA)
- Maggie Hassan(D-NH)
- Martin Heinrich(D-NM)
- Heidi Heitkamp(D-ND)
- Mazie Hirono(D-HI)
- Doug Jones(D-AL)
- Timothy Kaine(D-VA)
- Angus King(I-ME)
- Amy Klobuchar(D-MN)
- Patrick Leahy(D-VT)
- Joe Manchin(D-WV)
- Edward Markey(D-MA)
- Claire McCaskill(D-MO)
- Robert Menendez(D-NJ)
- Jeff Merkley(D-OR)
- Christopher Murphy(D-CT)
- Patty Murray(D-WA)
- Bill Nelson(D-FL)
- Gary Peters(D-MI)
- Jack Reed(D-RI)
- Bernie Sanders(I-VT)
- Brian Schatz(D-HI)
- Charles Schumer(D-NY)
- Jeanne Shaheen(D-NH)
- Tina Smith(D-MN)
- Debbie Stabenow(D-MI)
- Jon Tester(D-MT)
- Tom Udall(D-NM)
- Chris Van Hollen(D-MD)
- Mark Warner(D-VA)
- Elizabeth Warren(D-MA)
- Sheldon Whitehouse(D-RI)
- Ron Wyden(D-OR)
Did not vote · 5
3 D, 2 R
- Cory Booker(D-NJ)
- Christopher Coons(D-DE)
- Tammy Duckworth(D-IL)
- Lindsey Graham(R-SC)
- John McCain(R-AZ)
Education
| University of Notre Dame | B.A. | 1986 |
| Northwestern University School of Law (now Pritzker School of Law) | J.D. | 1989 |
Judicial Record
In our data, Brennan authored 202 published opinions for the court (2019–2026). Most cited: Debra Prill v. Kilolo Kijakazi (211 citations).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Debra Prill v. Kilolo Kijakazi | 23 F.4th 738 | 211 |
| 2021 | Jason White v. United States | 8 F.4th 547 | 173 |
| 2020 | Osama Taha v. International Brotherhood of T | 947 F.3d 464 | 156 |
| 2021 | Justin Herrera v. Teresa Cleveland | 8 F.4th 493 | 115 |
| 2019 | Antoinette Wonsey v. City of Chicago | 940 F.3d 394 | 113 |
| 2021 | Prairie Rivers Network v. Dynegy Midwest Generation, LLC | 2 F.4th 1002 | 99 |
| 2020 | Arwa Chiropractic, P.C. v. Med-Care Diabetic & Medical Su | 961 F.3d 942 | 91 |
| 2019 | Shirlena Barnes v. City of Centralia | 943 F.3d 826 | 83 |
| 2020 | Joseph Denan v. TransUnion LLC | 959 F.3d 290 | 81 |
| 2020 | Laura Divane v. Northwestern University | 953 F.3d 980 | 81 |
| 2022 | Karrine Milhem v. Kilolo Kijakazi | 52 F.4th 688 | 79 |
| 2021 | Brooke Persinger v. Southwest Credit Systems, L.P. | 20 F.4th 1184 | 75 |
| 2022 | James Perez v. Staples Contract & Commercial | 31 F.4th 560 | 69 |
| 2022 | Corey Crouch v. Richard Brown | 27 F.4th 1315 | 68 |
| 2022 | DM Trans, LLC v. Lindsey Scott | 38 F.4th 608 | 59 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 202 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Michael Brian Brennan?
- President Donald J. Trump appointed Michael Brian Brennan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2018.
- Was Michael Brian Brennan appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Michael Brian Brennan was appointed by President Donald J. Trump, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Michael Brian Brennan's confirmation vote?
- The Senate confirmed Michael Brian Brennan 49–46 on May 10, 2018.
- Which court is Michael Brian Brennan on?
- Michael Brian Brennan is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: screenshot of video by US Senate Judiciary Committee (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- Confirmation roll-call (Senate.gov, 2018)
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
8 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).