The president Biden nominated a diverse group of nine women and two men to federal judicial posts, including a potential Supreme Court candidate.
PRESIDENT Joe Biden is wasting no time in making one of the few indelible marks on history and law a president can make, nominating a diverse group of nine women and two men to federal judicial posts.
The intended nominees would put the first Muslim American on the federal bench and the first Asian American or Pacific Islander to serve in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the first woman of color to serve as a federal judge for the District of Maryland.
One of Biden’s picks, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, could be a contender for the Supreme Court if an opening occurs. Jackson, Biden’s intended nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, would fulfill Biden’s campaign promise to nominate a Black woman to the high court. Jackson, now a judge on the U.S. District Court for D.C., has been in the mix for the Supreme Court before, when Barack Obama was president.
Former President Donald Trump moved aggressively to full open judicial spots – something Obama did not do, putting his legislative agenda first. Trump’s 235 judicial appointments – including three associate justices on the Supreme Court – are one of the former president’s biggest and most lasting accomplishments.
After passing a massive tax cut early in his administration, Trump found his legislative agenda stymied in Congress, where House Democrats – having won the majority in 2018 – stopped Trump-backed proposals.
But with a GOP majority in the Senate and filibusters no longer allowed for judicial posts, Trump was able to get conservative jurists confirmed.
Biden also has an ambitious early legislative agenda but is not waiting to put his preferred candidates on the federal bench, where posts are lifetime appointments.
“President Biden has had a career-long commitment to the strength of the federal judiciary, and that is reflected in the historically fast pace at which he has moved to fill vacancies on the federal bench,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday morning. “The intent to nominate 11 individuals today is faster than any President in modern history. With respect to Circuit and District Courts, none of the last four administrations had nominated more than two candidates by this point in their presidency.”
The selections include Judge Florence Y. Pan as nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Pan would be the first Asian American and Pacific Islander community member on that court, at a time when Biden is under pressure from people in his own party to put more Asian Americans in power.
Biden’s first selection to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, was withdrawn when it became clear the Senate would not confirm her. That leaves Biden with no Asian American and Pacific Islander picks for his Cabinet at a time when incidents of bias and violence against Asian Americans are on the rise.
Biden also plans to tap Judge Zahid N. Quraishi as his nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Quraishi would be the first Muslim American on the federal bench, the White House said.
Judge Lydia Griggsby, Biden’s expected nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, would be the first Black woman and first woman of color to serve on the federal bench in that district, the White House said.
Other nominees are: Tiffany Cunningham for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, Judge Deborah Boardman for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Julien Neals for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Regina Rodriguez for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Margaret Strickland for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, and Judge Rupa Ranga Puttagunta for District of Columbia Superior Court.
The list pleased progressives, who have been clamoring for a bigger voice in Biden’s administration and legislative agenda.
“Today’s nominees embody the demographic and professional diversity and forward-thinking that will ensure justice is served to the American people when they enter a courtroom,” Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, said in a statement.
