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President Biden Announces 11 Judicial Nominees

  • Amanda Casanova

    Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and…

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  • Updated Mar 31, 2021

President Joe Biden has announced 11 judicial nominees, including three nominations to the federal circuit that feeds into the Supreme Court.

According to Fox News, the three nominations for the federal circuit include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would replace Attorney General Merrick Garland on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The D.C. Circuit is considered the second-highest court in the land below the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as late Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia all previously served on the D.C. Circuit.

Jackson is currently a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She graduated from Harvard Law.

Biden’s other nominations to the federal circuit also include Tiffany Cunningham, a partner at Chicago-based Perkins Coie LLP. She previously clerked on the Federal Circuit after graduating from Harvard Law.

The third nomination is for Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, a partner at Washington, D.C.-based Zuckerman Spaeder. She is a public defender in the Northern District of Illinois, but she previously clerked for the Northern District of Illinois and the Fourth Circuit. She is a Yale Law graduate.

"This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession," Biden said Tuesday. "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’s nominations now go to the Senate and the Senate Judiciary Committee for hearings and votes. The committee has even representation from each party after an agreement from Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

The nominations could go to the floor for debate, but if Republicans uniformly oppose any of the nominees in floor votes, Vice President Kamala Harris can break the tie.

Biden's other nominees are Judge Deborah Boardman for the District of Maryland; Judge Lydia Griggsby for the District of Maryland; Julien Neals for the District of New Jersey; Florence Y. Pan for the D.C. District Court; Judge Zahid N. Quraishi for the District of New Jersey; Regina Rodriguez for the District of Colorado; Margaret Strickland for the District of New Mexico; and Judge Rupa Ranga Puttagunta for the D.C. Superior Court.

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Pool


Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.