Joe Biden announces first lineup of judicial nominees

Following the confirmations of his Cabinet members, President Joe Biden is now making more nominations on the other levels of the government. Biden recently announced his first lineup of nominees for the federal courts.

Biden announced his first set of nominations for the courts this week made up of 11 candidates. The most notable name on the list is DC District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson - whom Biden is nominating for the US Court of Appeals in the DC Circuit. Jackson is also speculated to be Biden’s potential nominee for the Supreme Court.

Two more of Biden’s federal appeals court nominees are Tiffany Cunningham of the firm Perkins Coie LLP and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi of Zuckerman Spader. Both women are nominated for the US Court of Appeals in the Seventh Circuit and all three federal appeals court nominations are African-American women.

The lineup also gives insight on Biden’s plans to shape the judicial branch following his pledge during his 2020 campaign to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court if presented by the chance. The nominations also present a challenge for the Senate Democrats who hold a very slim majority in the upper chamber leaving hardly any room for error.

Other nominations, according to the White House, are also presenting as history-makers as included in the lineup, if confirmed, would become the first Muslim American federal judge, the first AAPI woman to serve in the District Court for DC, and the first woman of color to serve as a federal judge for Maryland.

“This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession,” said Biden in a 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.”

On Wednesday this week, Biden is also set to unveil his $2 trillion infrastructure plan that would span eight years. Called the “American Jobs Plan,” will have money for plans for roads, power grids, as well as funds for clearing up abandoned mines - a nod to lawmakers from coal states whose support is important for its passage.