Three of President Biden’s nominees for Third Circuit seats advanced yesterday. One crossed the finish line and achieved confirmation by the Senate, while two others cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Arianna J. Freeman became the first Biden Third Circuit nominee to be confirmed by the Senate. The vote was 50-47, along strictly partisan lines (three Republican Senators were not present). That vote occurred after a previous vote earlier this month failed to confirm her because two Democratic Senators were not present.
Judge Freeman is the managing attorney of the Federal Community Defender Office of the Eastern District Pennsylvania, where she has handled appellate matters, among other things. She is the first Biden Third Circuit nominee to be confirmed. She is also the first woman of color to serve on the Third Circuit. Welcome, Judge Freeman!
The two Biden Third Circuit nominees whom the Judiciary Committee advanced to the full Senate are Cindy K. Chung, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves, who currently sits as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware. The vote on Ms. Chung was 12-10, with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) joining all of the committee’s Democrats in voting for her nomination. Justice Montgomery-Reeves received committee approval by a vote of 13-9, including support by Senators Graham and Cornyn (R-TX), along with the Democratic Senators.