Daniel Z. Epstein (born 1983)United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Daniel Epstein
is an American lawyer who served as Special Assistant to the President. He is a former nominee to be a Judge of the

United States Court of Federal Claims The United States Court of Federal Claims (in case citations, Fed. Cl. or C.F.C.) is a United States federal courts, United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government. It ...

. On January 13, 2021, he was appointed to a three-year term on the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States.

Education

Epstein earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, ''cum laude'', from

Kenyon College Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

, and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

Emory University School of Law Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University, a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the American Association of Law ...

."President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees and United States Attorney Nominee" White House, June 19, 2019
Epstein received a PhD in Political Science from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Legal career

Epstein began his career as a legal associate with the

Charles Koch Charles de Ganahl Koch ( ; born November 1, 1935) is an American billionaire businessman and engineer. As of May 2025, he is ranked as the 22nd richest man in the world on the '' Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', with an estimated net worth of US ...

Foundation. From 2009–2011, he served as counsel for oversight and investigations for the

United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...

. In 2011, he founded the Cause of Action Institute, a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm, and served as its Executive Director and President of the Board until 2016. At Cause of Action, he represented pro bono clients in government investigations and litigated regulatory, constitutional, political, and public law matters. From 2016–2017, Epstein was a consultant for the

Institute for Justice The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a non-profit public interest law firm in the United States. It has litigated twelve cases before the United States Supreme Court dealing with eminent domain, interstate commerce, public election finance, public ...

. Before joining the White House in January 2017, he was counsel to both the Presidential Transition Team and the Trump for President Campaign. He served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Counsel to the President from 2017–2020. He is currently the Director for Legal and Policy at Trust Ventures, a Texas-based venture capital fund.

Withdrawn nomination to Court of Federal Claims

On June 19, 2019,

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

announced his intent to nominate Epstein to serve as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the

. On June 24, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Epstein to the seat vacated by Judge Edward J. Damich, who took senior status on October 22, 2013. On January 3, 2020, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. On February 4, 2020, he was renominated to the same seat. On December 17, 2020, his prior nomination was withdrawn as he was nominated by

to be the Chairman of the

Administrative Conference of the United States The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent agency of the United States government that was established in 1964 by the Administrative Conference Act (). The conference's purpose is to "promote improvements in the ...

."Three Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate" White House, December 17, 2020
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Expired nomination to Administrative Conference of the United States

On December 17, 2020, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

nominated Epstein to be the Chairman of the

for a term of five years after Paul R. Verkuil's term expired. On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

Memberships

He has been a member of the

Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian legal organization that advocates for a Textualism, textualist an ...

since 2006. Epstein is an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

References

1983 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Emory University School of Law alumni George Washington University alumni Kenyon College alumni Lawyers from Houston Texas Republicans First Trump administration personnel Washington, D.C., Republicans {{US-law-bio-stub