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US President Joe Biden this week announced his third lineup of judicial nominees. The lineup includes three court of appeals nominees and three federal district court nominees.
Biden announced his plans to nominate six more judicial nominees in his efforts to fill vacancies this week. The third lineup is made up of three picks for the US Court of Appeals and three for the federal District Courts. All in all, Biden has put together 20 names for federal judge vacancies.
The nominees for the US Court of Appeals include Gustavo Gelpi Jr. for the First Circuit, Eunice Lee for the Second Circuit, and Veronica Rossman for the 10th Circuit. For the District Courts, Biden is nominating Angel Kelley for the District of Massachusetts, Lauren King for the Western District of Washington, and Karen Williams for the District of New Jersey.
The White House released a statement regarding the nominees, saying that the picks were “groundbreaking choices.” “These individuals embody President Biden’s commitment to ensure that his judicial nominees represent not only the excellence but the diversity of our nation with respect to both personal and professional backgrounds.”
Gelpi has already received the backing of two Democratic members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in New York Rep. Nydia Velasquez and Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva. Velasquez, who was a former chair of the caucus, praised Gelpi’s nomination and urged the Senate to confirm him. Velasquez also noted that Gelpi would become the second Hispanic judge to serve on the First Circuit if confirmed.
In other news, Biden said Wednesday that he expects good news to come from the Colonial Pipeline in 24 hours. This comes as the pipeline suffered a ransomware attack by a hacker group known as DarkSide, which has demanded money in exchange for unfreezing the system. It remains to be seen if the Colonial Pipeline plans to pay the ransom as usually demanded.
Biden added that they are cooperating with the pipeline, noting that it is the reason for the sudden hike in gas prices and that the situation will be under control.
However, as of the late afternoon, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced that the pipeline is restarting its gas pipeline operations.
