The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Nusrat Choudhury to a lifetime federal judgeship, putting the first-ever Muslim American woman on the federal bench.
Choudhury was confirmed, 50 to 49, to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Every Republican voted no. Every Democrat, including the two independents who caucus with them, voted to confirm her, except for one: Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is running for president, missed the vote.
Choudhury, 47, is a longtime civil rights attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. She worked for more than 11 years at the ACLU’s national chapter in New York City, and since 2020, has been the legal director for the ACLU of Illinois.
Progressives have long advocated for Choudhury and have been anxiously awaiting action on her nomination, which has stalled for more than a year due to stiff GOP opposition and Democratic absences in a Senate where Democrats hold the razor-thin majority of 51-49. Her confirmation comes a day after another one of President Joe Biden’s court picks, voting rights attorney Dale Ho, was confirmed after waiting almost two years for a vote.
Both nominees were recommended to the White House by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), as both would fill court vacancies in his home state.
“The trend of the Senate confirming some of President Biden and Leader Schumer’s best judicial picks continues,” said Chris Kang, chief counsel for Demand Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group. “It used to be an anomaly for the Senate to confirm a career civil rights lawyer to a federal judgeship. This week, it’s happened multiple times.”
Tom Williams via Getty Images
Choudhury faced GOP criticism during her April 2022 confirmation hearing, when Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked if she said at a 2015 speaking event at Princeton…
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