Raymond W. Gruender (born July 5, 1963) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Education and early career

Gruender was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from the prestigious Jesuit, all-boy College-preparatory school, St. Louis University High School, in 1981. He then attended Washington University in St. Louis and Washington University School of Law and earned three degrees: a Bachelor of Arts, a Juris Doctor, and a Master of Business Administration. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Young Alumni Award from the law school. Prior to joining the federal bench, Gruender worked as an attorney both in private practice and public service. After law school, he was in private practice at Lewis, Rice & Fingersh from 1987 to 1990, at which point he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. In 1994, he ran for election as St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney and lost to the incumbent. He then returned to private practice at Thompson Coburn. In 1996, he was the Missouri state campaign director for Bob Dole's presidential campaign. In 2000, he left Thompson Coburn to rejoin the United States Attorneys' Office, and in 2001 he became the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, a position he remained in until his confirmation to the Eighth Circuit in 2004.

Federal judicial service

Gruender was nominated to the Eighth Circuit by President George W. Bush on September 29, 2003, to fill a seat vacated by Judge Pasco Bowman II. The United States Senate confirmed him 97-1 on May 20, 2004, almost eight months later, with Senator Tom Harkin voting against him. Gruender received his commission on June 5, 2004.

Jurisprudence

Possible Supreme Court nomination

Gruender has been consistently mentioned as a possible nominee for the Supreme Court in a Republican administration. On May 18, 2016, then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced that Gruender was on his list of potential Supreme Court nominees.