The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced five of President Joe Biden’s first judicial nominees Thursday, including Ketanji Brown Jackson for the powerful D.C. Circuit, bringing them one step closer to confirmation (article available here).
The district court nominees received bipartisan support: District of Colorado nominee Regina Rodriguez, and District of New Jersey nominees Zahid Quraishi and Julien Neals.
If confirmed by the full Senate, this group of nominees would bring gender, racial and ethnic, and experiential diversity to their respective courts. Jackson, who would replace Attorney General Merrick Garland on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Jackson-Akiwumi are Black women who have backgrounds in public defense, which is an uncommon experience for federal judges. Jackson-Akiwumi would also join the only all-White circuit court. And Quraishi would be the first Muslim federal judge. Previous coverage available here.
The nominees now head for a final confirmation vote in the full Senate.