Travis Randall McDonough (born 1972) is the Chief United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee (in case citations, E.D. Tenn.) is the federal court in the Sixth Circuit whose jurisdiction covers most of East Tennessee and a portion of Middle Tennessee. The court has jur ...

and former chief of staff and counselor to the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

Biography

McDonough was raised in Powell's Crossroads in

Marion County, Tennessee Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in East Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,837. Its county seat is Jasper. Marion County is part of the Chattanooga, AL– TN– GA Metropol ...

, and graduated from Whitwell High School. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1994 from Sewanee: The University of the South where he was named a Harry S Truman scholar. He received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1997 from

Vanderbilt University Law School Vanderbilt University Law School (also known as Vanderbilt Law School or VLS) is a graduate school of Vanderbilt University. Established in 1874, it is one of the oldest law schools in the southern United States. Vanderbilt Law School has consiste ...

. He served as an associate at the

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

law firm of

Miller & Martin Miller & Martin PLLC is a midsize Southeastern law firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina. The firm employs over 130 attorneys and a similar number of support staff. ...

from 1997 to 2004 and as a partner at that firm from 2005 to 2013, additionally serving as head of the firm's litigation department from 2012 to 2013. During his service at that firm he litigated a wide variety of civil and criminal matters in Federal and State courts. From 2013 to 2015 he served as chief of staff and counselor to the Chattanooga Mayor

Andy Berke Andrew Lawrence Berke (born March 31, 1968) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. He served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hamilton and Marion counties in the 1 ...

Federal judicial service

On November 20, 2014, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

nominated McDonough to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, to the seat vacated by Judge Curtis Lynn Collier, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on October 31, 2014. On December 16, 2014, his nomination was returned to the President due to the

sine die In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is oppo ...

adjournment of the

113th Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

. On January 7, 2015, President Obama renominated him to the same position. He received a hearing before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

on June 10, 2015. On July 9, 2015, his nomination was reported out of committee by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. On December 7, 2015, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

confirmed his nomination by a 89–0 vote. He received his judicial commission on December 10, 2015. He became chief judge on September 10, 2020, following the death of

Pamela L. Reeves Pamela Lynn Reeves (July 21, 1954 – September 10, 2020) was the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. She was the first female judge to serve in the Eastern District. E ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonough, Travis R. 1972 births Living people 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee Lawyers from Chattanooga, Tennessee Sewanee: The University of the South alumni Political chiefs of staff United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama Vanderbilt University Law School alumni