David Ryan Stras (born July 4, 1974)[1][2] is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
After spending a year in private practice at the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley Austin, Stras clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court from 2002 to 2003.
He won the law school's Stanley V. Kinyon Tenure Track Teacher of the Year Award in 2006.
He was on President Donald Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees.
[12] On May 8, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Stras to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge Diana E. Murphy, who assumed senior status on November 29, 2016.
[13][14] On September 5, 2017, Minnesota Senator Al Franken announced that he would not return his blue slip for Stras.
[16] On January 3, 2018, his nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.