Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Monday, Sep 15, 2025

Senate confirms Zahid Quraishi as first Muslim federal judge in U.S. history

Senate confirms Zahid Quraishi as first Muslim federal judge in U.S. history

The Senate on Thursday approved the historic nomination of Judge Zahid Quraishi to the U.S. District Court in New Jersey, making him the nation's first Muslim-American federal judge.
Quraishi received bipartisan backing from the upper chamber with its 81 to 16 vote to confirm him to the federal court in Trenton. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination with bipartisan support last week.

Quraishi has served as a U.S. magistrate judge since 2019 and, before his appointment, was a partner at Riker Danzig. He also worked as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey for five years and as assistant chief counsel at the Department of Homeland Security. Quraishi served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps and deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2006.

Mr. Biden announced Quraishi as part of his first group of judicial nominees at the end of March, which included several picks, him included, who would make history if confirmed by the Senate. The upper chamber began this week approving Mr. Biden's candidates to the federal bench with the confirmations of Julien Neals to the U.S. District Court in New Jersey and Regina Rodriguez to the federal District Court in Colorado.

The Senate also advanced the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, considered the nation's second most powerful court. Jackson is widely considered to be a frontrunner for the Supreme Court if a vacancy were to arise. Progressive groups have been pressuring Justice Stephen Breyer, the oldest member of the court's liberal bloc, to retire and allow Mr. Biden to name a successor.

Mr. Biden has pledged to name judges to the U.S. courts who are diverse both in their backgrounds and professional experience. In addition to Quraishi's history-making confirmation, Judge Florence Pan would be the first Asian-American woman on the district court in D.C. if confirmed, and Judge Lydia Griggsby would be the first woman of color to serve as a federal judge in Maryland if her nomination is approved by the Senate.

The president has also included in his judicial nominations candidates who have worked as public defenders, considered by legal groups to be underrepresented on the federal bench.

There are more than 80 current vacancies on the U.S. district and appellate courts, and another 30 seats will open in the coming weeks and months. Mr. Biden has announced more than a dozen nominees to the federal courts and said Tuesday he is on track to have confirmed the most judges by July of the first year of a president's first term in more than 50 years.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday pledged the Democratic-led Senate "will swiftly and consistently confirm" Mr. Biden's nominees to the federal bench, "bringing balance, experience and diversity back to the judiciary."

The focus from Democrats on judicial appointments follows the unwavering commitment from Senate Republicans across former President Donald Trump's only term to approve his nominees to the federal courts.

In all, the GOP-controlled Senate confirmed more than 230 of Mr. Trump's picks to the nation's trial and appellate courts, as well as three of his nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, reshaping the federal judiciary.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
×