President Biden continues to nominate federal judges at a historic pace, announcing five new candidates today as Democrats look to reverse the Trump administration’s outsized impact on the judiciary.
“President Biden has spent decades committed to strengthening the federal bench, which is why he continues to move at an unparalleled speed with respect to judicial nominations,” the White House said in a press release. “His first judicial nominations announcement was made faster than that of any new President in modern American history, and today’s announcement continues that trend.”
Biden has now set forth 24 judicial nominees. Among the candidates in Tuesday’s slate is Myrna Pérez, who is not a judge. It’s an unusual move for a high-profile position, but Pérez is the director of the Brennan Center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program at New York University’s law school, an organization that is combating laws that make it more difficult to vote.
Pérez’s nomination to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was supported by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who called it a “perfect example of our push to bring balance, experience and professional and personal diversity back to the federal judiciary.”
Four other nominees – including three women – were nominated to open seats in Connecticut and the District of Columbia.
Former President Donald Trump added over 220 judges to the federal bench. Biden’s first nominees were confirmed earlier this month. He’s prioritized diversity. USA Today contextualizes:
While advocates for greater diversity say the share is still too small, Biden is on track to expand the number of Black female appellate judges to eight from four, ensuring that at least one Black woman is serving on more than half the nation’s circuit courts.
Biden’s highest-profile nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, was confirmed Monday to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit – his first appellate judge cleared by the Senate. Three other Black women are in the pipeline for federal appeals courts, and all three appear to be on course for confirmation.
