Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Senate Vote On Confirmation Of Bradley Garcia As A Circuit Court Judge For The D.C. Circuit And Continuing To Approve President Biden’s Judicial Nominees

Washington, D.C.–Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor highlighting recent progress on confirming judicial nominees in the Senate and applauding the work of Bradley Garcia who the Senate will consider to sit on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals later today. If confirmed, Judge Garcia will be the first Latino to serve on the D.C. Circuit. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Last week was a very productive week in the Senate for judicial nominees: the Judiciary Committee reported out six more nominees for lifetime appointments to the federal bench.

We’re continuing the work of confirming more outstanding judges this week, starting today.

This afternoon, we will vote to confirm Bradley Garcia as a Circuit Court Judge for the highly-important D.C. Circuit. After the Supreme Court, as everyone knows, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is the most important federal court in the country, particularly when it comes to government actions. And it takes up cases, of course, that the Supreme Court is unable to consider. The Supreme Court only takes up about 75 cases a year. And so the D.C. Circuit Court has many, many vital and important cases. The D.C. Circuit is often the final word on hugely consequential cases, particularly those involving Congress and the executive branch.

And I’m proud to say once confirmed, Bradley Garcia will make history as the first Latino ever to serve on the D.C. Circuit since it was established in 1893. Latinos are historically underrepresented across the federal bench, so confirming the first-ever Latino to the second-most important court is a long overdue step towards making the federal bench better reflect our country.

When it comes to confirming people to the federal bench, especially to the highly-important, vital D.C. Circuit, it is imperative to get it right, and President Biden got it right with the historic nomination of Bradley Garcia.

A graduate of Johns Hopkins and Harvard Law School, Mr. Garcia has a wealth of public and private legal experience defending civil and human rights.

He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan and rose to partner at a law firm, before leaving to serve in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

And Mr. Garcia, being of generous spirit, boasts an impressive pro bono record, advocating for clients in cases implicating the rights of immigrants and criminal defendants, women’s reproductive freedoms, and free and fair elections.

So I am confident that Bradley Garcia will make an outstanding addition to the D.C. Circuit, joining the proud company of so many other Biden appointments who are, little by little, making our courts a better reflection of the United States.

Mr. Garcia received a bipartisan vote out of the Judiciary Committee; I’m proud to say that and I thank my Republican colleagues who voted for him. I expect that bipartisan support to carry on to the floor this afternoon, and I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for working with us.

And Senate Democrats will continue making judicial confirmations one of our top priorities moving forward. We’ve made remarkable progress in our work to confirm good, mainstream, and diverse judges under President Biden, and we’ll keep working towards that goal this week and beyond.

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