Senate Confirms Michelle Childs To Powerful D.C. Circuit Court Of Appeals

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July 19, 2022

By Jennifer Bendery, Huff Post

She is the fourth Black woman to ever serve on the court, which is considered second only to the Supreme Court.

Judge Michelle Childs will move from the U.S. District Court to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (ROD LAMKEY/ZUMA PRESS)

The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Michelle Childs to a lifetime seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, making her the fourth Black woman to ever serve on the powerful court in its 130-year history.

Childs was confirmed, 64 to 34. Every Democrat present voted for her, along with 15 Republicans. The full vote tally is here.

Childs, 56, has been a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina since 2010. She was previously a state circuit judge in Columbia, South Carolina, for four years.

President Joe Biden was considering nominating Childs to the Supreme Court earlier this year to fill retiring Justice Stephen Breyer’s seat. Prominent South Carolina lawmakers including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D) were lobbying the president hard to pick Childs. Biden ultimately nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson for that seat, though, which led to Graham having a tantrum during her confirmation hearing.

Clyburn hailed Childs’ confirmation on Tuesday.

“My admiration and advocacy for Judge Childs is well known,” he said in a statement. “She possesses the diversity of life experiences that is currently absent from much of the federal bench.”

Learn more about Childs.

Childs’ appointment follows that of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman in the Supreme Court.

Discover more Black trailblazers in ABHM’s breaking news.

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