Near the end of former President George H.W. Bush's term, O'Neill was mentioned as a successor to one of two open seats on the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Houston Chronicle, March 9, 1991). He was passed over.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a background check of O'Neill (Texas Lawyer, July 8, 1991). The American Bar Association judicial screening committee would have also looked at O'Neill. Houston lawyers tell me O'Neill was found unqualified, connecting some of his difficulties to a contempt citation against O'Neill from U.S. District Judge David Hittner in 1990. (Texas Lawyer, Feb. 19, 1990)