Senate Confirms First Batch of Biden's Judicial Nominees

What’s the story?

• Over the last week, the Senate has confirmed President Joe Biden’s first batch of nominees to the federal bench, including an appellate judge who is widely considered to be on the Democratic president’s Supreme Court shortlist and a trio of district court judges.
• The confirmation of Biden’s first judicial nominee occurred on Tuesday, June 8th, when the Senate confirmed Julien Neals to serve as a judge on the federal district court for the District of New Jersey on a bipartisan 66-33 vote. 
• Several hours after the Senate confirmed Neals last Tuesday, the chamber confirmed Regina Rodriguez to the federal bench for the District of Colorado on a similarly bipartisan vote of 72-28.
• On Thursday, the Senate voted 81-16 to elevate Judge Zahid Quraishi, who currently serves the federal District of New Jersey as a magistrate judge (a Senate-confirmed role with renewable terms designed to assist district court judges), to be a federal judge for that district with a lifetime appointment. Following that vote, Quraishi became the first Muslim American to be confirmed as an Article III judge on a federal district or circuit court.
• The Senate started this week by elevating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson from the federal District Court for the District of Columbia to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on a 53-44 vote in which three Republican senators joined Democrats by voting in favor. GOP senators opposed to her nomination expressed unease with her liberal jurisprudence at the district court level.
• The D.C. Circuit is located in Washington, D.C., and because its jurisdiction includes Congress and many federal agencies, it deals with an extensive caseload related to constitutional & administrative law. It’s considered one of the most prominent courts in the U.S. and second only to the U.S. Supreme Court. Three current Supreme Court justices were elevated from the D.C. Circuit: Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. 
• Jackson is widely believed to be on Biden’s shortlist of Supreme Court nominees in the event that a vacancy occurs during his tenure. In addition to the significance of her new role in the federal judiciary, Jackson is also a black woman and Biden pledged during his presidential campaign to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court.  
• Biden released a statement praising the confirmation votes and said, “I look forward to continuing to make nominations at an historic pace and working closely with the Senate on many more confirmations.”

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• Know a Nominee: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Federal Court: iStock.com / johnsalzarulo | Biden: White House photo by Adam Schultz via Flickr / Public Domain)