CNN
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President Joe Biden unveiled his latest round of judicial nominees Thursday, bringing the number of people he has offered for the federal judiciary to 180 and continuing the White House’s emphasis on demographic and professional diversity.
The four newly announced nominees are being offered to fill vacancies on two federal appellate courts, as well as openings on US district courts in Minnesota and California.
“The President’s very top priority is nominating the most diverse and impressive judicial nominees and getting them confirmed,” White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said in a statement to CNN that pointed to the recent spree of Senate judicial confirmations that put a labor lawyer, a civil rights attorney and former public defender, and a reproductive rights lawyer on the federal bench.
“Today, the President’s nominees include a U.S. Navy Reserve Captain and Navy Reserve Lieutenant Commander, a Korean-American state court judge – and if confirmed – the first Hispanic person to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota,” Zients continued.
Judge Eumi Lee, a Korean American superior court judge in California, is being nominated for the federal trial court for the state’s Northern District. Minnesota state Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Bryan, who is Hispanic, is Biden’s choice for Minnesota’s US district court.
For a Kansas seat on the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit – a Denver-based appeals court that covers states in the Midwest and West – Biden is nominating Rich Federico, a Kansas federal public defender who is the latest example of Biden seeking to break what was once the ex-prosecutor or corporate lawyer mold for judicial nominees.
As part of Biden’s commitment to bringing more professional diversity to the judiciary, the White House is also touting Lee’s time teaching at University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly the University of California, Hastings College of the Law) where she was focused on access to justice and criminal justice reform issues.
Biden has selected for the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit – a Chicago-based appeals court covering parts of the upper Midwest – US Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar, who also serves as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy Reserve. Federico, the 10th Circuit nominee, likewise has a military background, serving as a captain in the US Navy Reserve.
A White House official, who asked for anonymity to weigh in on the work behind the scenes, said that relevant senators were consulted in the selection process. That includes the Republican senators from Kansas whom the Biden administration worked with in picking Federico for the 10th Circuit opening in their state, the White House official said.
A change to Senate norms made by Republicans under the Trump administration abolished a tradition that required home state senators to sign off on appeals court nominees, but such approval is still needed for nominees for US district courts to advance in the Senate.
