President George W Bush's nominee for the US Supreme Court, White House counsel Harriet Miers, announced today she was withdrawing her name from consideration.
Harriet Miers after speaking to reporters earlier this week
In a letter to Mr Bush released by the White House, Ms Miers said she was concerned that the Senate confirmation process "presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interest of the country."
The White House had been struggling to persuade senators to back Mr Bush's nomination.
She had come under criticism from Democrats and conservative Republicans alike and many conservatives had demanded she withdraw her nomination because she lacked judicial experience and confusion over her stance on abortion.
As a reason for pulling out, Ms Miers cited the need to maintain privacy of internal records of her White House service that members of Congress wanted to see but Mr Bush wanted to keep confidential.
Conservative groups usually loyal to Mr Bush have launched websites and television ads denouncing Ms Miers's nomination and Republican senators have been slow to offer her public support.
Some conservative expressed concern about a speech Ms Miers made in 1993 to the Executive Women of Dallas, when she said that the principle of "self-determination" should guide decisions about abortion and school prayer.
Conservative critics say the speech appears to contradict Ms Miers' robust anti-abortion stance expressed to an anti-abortion pressure group four years earlier.