Biden Eleventh Circuit Pick Advances in Senate Judiciary Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of a Biden White House selection to become only the second Black man appointed to a federal appeals court in the past decade.

The Democratic-led panel voted 11-10 on Thursday to move Embry Kidd’s nomination to the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to the full Senate for consideration. All Republicans voted no.

Kidd, a US magistrate judge in Orlando, Florida, and former prosecutor, would be Biden’s second Black male appellate appointee after Andre Mathis was confirmed to the Sixth Circuit in 2022.

Kidd would replace Judge Charles Wilson, the second Black judge to serve on the Eleventh Circuit, which covers Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. Wilson was appointed by Bill Clinton to the seat vacated by the first Black man on the court, Joseph Hatchett.

The White House has prioritized demographic diversity in its judicial nominations and has almost doubled the number of Black women on circuit courts.

The Senate panel also advanced Meredith Vacca, a state court judge, who’d be the first person of color to serve on the Western District of New York if confirmed. The approval of Vacca, who is Asian American and was born in South Korea, comes after the failed nomination of Colleen Holland to the upstate New York court seat.

Holland wasn’t renominated at the beginning of this year after she had asked to be withdrawn from consideration.