Biden’s first court picks will diversify federal judiciary

Bloomberg

President Joe Biden announced a slate of federal judge nominees on Tuesday that placed a heavy emphasis on his stated goal of promoting diversity across the government.
The picks — Biden’s first to the federal bench since taking office January 20 — included Zahid Quraishi, who would be the first Muslim-American federal judge in US history, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of three Black women selected to fill appeals court vacancies.
Biden, who has been under pressure from progressives to make good on promises to diversify the federal government with his picks for powerful posts, picked nine women and
two men for his first crop of judicial nominees.
“This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession,” Biden said in an e-mailed statement. “Each is deeply qualified and prepared to deliver justice faithfully under our Constitution and impartially to the American people — and together they represent the broad diversity of background, experience, and perspective that makes our nation strong.”
Biden also selected Florence Pan, who, would be the first Asian American/Pacific Islander woman to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
All the nominations are pending confirmation by the U.S. Senate, which is split 50-50, meaning the loss of even a single Democrat would require Republican support that could be difficult or impossible to muster. Biden already has been forced to scrap his nomination of Neera Tanden to be White House budget director amid objections from Democrats and widespread opposition from Republicans.
Winning Republican support could prove increasingly difficult as next year’s midterm elections approach, especially given the razor-thin margin of control in the Senate. Republicans have a chance of gaining control of the chamber when voters go to the polls in November of 2022, a development that would dramatically curb Biden’s ability to reshape the federal judiciary.
Biden already starts off behind his predecessors in terms of total current vacancies he has available to fill, according to a recent Brookings Institution report. Of the past six presidents, only Ronald Reagan in 1981 had fewer vacant seats by this time in his presidency.