Timothy Michael Tymkovich (born November 2, 1956) is the United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Early life and education Born in Denver, Colorado, Tymkovich is a third-generation Coloradan. His great-grandfather emigrated from Ukraine to the United States via Ellis Island and worked as a miner. Tymkovich graduated from Colorado College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts. He then attended the University of Colorado Law School, where he was an editor of the University of Colorado Law Review. He graduated in 1982 with a Juris Doctor degree. Legal career After law school, Tymkovich was a law clerk for chief justice William Erickson of the Colorado Supreme Court from 1982 to 1983. From 1983 to 1991, Tymkovich worked in private practice in Denver and Washington, D.C. In 1991, Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton appointed him Solicitor General of the State of Colorado. Tymkovich served in that position until 1996, arguing several cases in front of the Supreme Court of the United States. Most notably, in Romer v. Evans (1996), he unsuccessfully argued that Colorado's Amendment 2 (which revoked local legal protections for members of the LGBT community) was not unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. He then returned to private practice in Denver. Tenth Circuit nomination and confirmation President George W. Bush initially nominated Tymkovich to the seat on the Tenth Circuit on May 25, 2001, and renominated him on January 7, 2003. He was nominated to a seat vacated by Judge John Carbone Porfilio, who assumed senior status. President Bill Clinton had nominated Christine Arguello to the seat, but she never received a hearing or a vote from the United States Senate. The Senate confirmed Tymkovich on April 1, 2003, by a 58–41 vote. He received his commission the same day. He was the chief judge from October 1, 2015, to October 1, 2022. In September 2016, Tymkovich and his circuit colleague Neil Gorsuch were named as possible U.S. Supreme Court nominees by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. In 2018, Tymkovich was tasked with reviewing more than a dozen ethics complaints filed against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In 2001, Kavanaugh had helped lobby for Tymkovich to be appointed as a federal judge. Notable cases United States v. McCane, 573 F.3d 1037 (10th Cir. 2009): Markice McCane was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm