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President Joe Biden is poised to nominate two Hispanic women to be judges on powerful federal appeals courts, the White House told NBC News.
He will pick Irma Carrillo Ramirez to serve on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. She currently serves as a magistrate judge in Texas and is expected to receive bipartisan support in the Senate, a source involved with the nomination said. If confirmed, she’d be the first Latina to serve on the famously conservative appeals court.
The president also intends to pick Ana Isabel de Alba to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is currently a federal district court judge in California.
The selections represent an attempt by Biden to build on what the White House touts as the most diverse slate of judicial nominees in U.S. history. If the two women are confirmed, Biden will already have appointed more Latinas to circuit courts than any previous president, the White House said.
The nominations come at a tricky moment for Senate Democrats amid the prolonged absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a pivotal vote on the Judiciary Committee. That has prevented Democrats from advancing judges for confirmation votes before the full Senate unless they have Republican support.
Democrats, with Feinstein's blessing, are looking for a temporary replacement on the panel as she recovers from illness.