In New Milestone, Senate Democrats Have Confirmed 100 Of President Biden’s History-Making And Well-Qualified Nominees As District Court Judges

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Today, Senate Democrats have hit a major milestone, confirming President Biden’s 100^th District Court judicial nominee: Natasha Merle to be District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.

Senate Democrats have made confirming President Biden’s judicial nominations a top priority – and we have made history, not just with the number of judges confirmed but the demographic and professional diversity of these nominees, forever changing the face of the federal judiciary.

Entire districts have changed composition in these few years. The District of New Jersey now has a majority-women bench. Every seat in the Western District of Washington has been replaced by a Biden nominee, and every one of them is a person of color, including a Taiwanese immigrant and Washington’s first Native American judge.

“Hitting this milestone of one hundred district judges confirmed is very significant,” said Senate Majority Leader Schumer, “and Senate Democrats will continue moving forward on more qualified, diverse judges in the weeks and months to come.”

These 100 new District Court Judges have made history and broken barriers:

Judge Zahid Qurashi and Judge Nusrat Choudhury made history as the first Muslim American federal judge and the first Muslim American woman federal judge ever confirmed to the federal bench.

Judge Gina Mendez-Miro and Judge Jamar Walker broke barriers by being confirmed as the first openly LGBTQ federal judges ever confirmed in Puerto Rico and Virginia.

Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes was confirmed as the country’s first Navajo federal judge.

These are just some of the historic firsts that this Senate has made real by elevating well-qualified and diverse nominees from all backgrounds, ensuring the federal judiciary better reflects the rich diversity of our country, in race, religion, gender, socioeconomic background and professional experience, and enriching our courts, strengthening the trust in our judiciary.

This Senate has confirmed more judges by this point in a president’s term than under the two previous administrations: 

The well-qualified and diverse judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are breaking barriers and making our courts more reflective of America. Of these 136 judicial nominees:

·         91/136 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are women

·         91/136 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are people of color

·         46/136 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are Black

·         32/136 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are Black women

·         27/136 judicial nominees confirmed by this Senate are Hispanic

In comparison to other presidents’ entire terms:

• This Senate has confirmed more women to judgeships than under any Republican President’s full time in office, and more women of color than any president.

• This Senate has confirmed more people of color to Circuit Court judgeships than under any other president.
• This Senate has confirmed more Asian and Native women to the federal bench than under any other president.
• This Senate has already tied confirmations under the Obama Administration for most AAPI judicial nominees confirmed.

The historic diversity of these new judges includes some major milestones:

Senate Confirms Jackson As First Black Woman On U.S. Supreme Court

Senate Confirms First Out LGBTQ Woman To Serve On Federal Circuit Court

The Senate Has Just Confirmed The First Muslim American Federal Judge In U.S. History

Cunningham Is Confirmed As First Black Federal Circuit Judge

Senate Confirms First Korean-American Woman Appeals Court Judge

U.S. Senate Confirms First Black Woman To Conservative-Leaning 5th Circuit

First Asian American Confirmed to Third Circuit Appeals Court

The judges are also reshaping the courts by adding a diversity in experience:

Senate Democrats are committed to adding a breadth of experience to the federal bench, beyond the typical trial lawyers, and we are working towards that goal.

This Senate has confirmed more public defenders to appeals courts than any in history and has placed an emphasis on confirming more civil rights, legal aid, and election and voting rights lawyers to diversify experience on the federal bench.

From Myrna Perez, formerly the director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, to Holly Thomas and Cindy Chung from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, and the Innocence Project’s former senior litigation counsel, Nina Morrison, this Senate is expanding the depth of experience of federal judges.

Just this week, the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, the Senate confirmed one of the leading lawyers on women’s rights and civil liberties, Julie Rikelman, to be Circuit Court judge for the First Circuit. She is the attorney who defended the Mississippi clinic in the Dobbs case that ultimately overturned Roe, and she will add an important, previously missing perspective to the federal bench.

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