The Senate on Thursday confirmed Nusrat Choudhury, a longtime civil rights attorney, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, making her the nation's first female Muslim federal judge.
Choudhury, a former American Civil Liberties Union attorney, was confirmed 50-49 on a mostly party-line vote. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, joined Republicans in opposing her.
Choudhury has served as the legal director of the ACLU of Illinois since 2020. She clerked for U.S. Circuit Judge Barrington Parker, who was nominated to the appeals bench in New York by former President George W. Bush and to U.S. District Court by former President Bill Clinton. She received her law degree from Yale.
She is also the first Bangladeshi-American to serve as a federal judge.
Biden also nominated the first Muslim federal judge, U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi, who was confirmed in 2021. The Biden administration has made diversifying the federal judiciary − including with professional diversity − a centerpiece of the president’s agenda.



House Democrats have published a new tranche of what they called “disturbing” photographs from the estate...
Representative Delia Ramirez, an Illinois Democrat, demanded on Thursday that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary...
Twelve FBI agents who were fired this year for taking a knee during racial justice protests...





























