Biden names two Louisiana judicial nominee picks

President Biden on Wednesday named two nominees to fill federal judge vacancies from Louisiana, a reliably red state.

Jerry Edwards Jr. was nominated for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana and Brandon Long was nominated for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Edwards is the first assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana, and before that, he was chief of the civil division in the district. He previously was a law clerk for judges Jeanette G. Garrett and Scott J. Crichton of the First Judicial District Court of Louisiana.

Long is an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans. He was previously deputy chief of staff under FBI Director Christopher Wray from February 2020 to July 2021 and before that was assistant U.S. attorney to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. 

The White House in a release on Wednesday called them both “extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution.”

“These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country—both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds,” according to the release.

The White House has been focused on filling vacancies on the federal bench and ensuring there is a diverse slate of candidates, but it has recently hit roadblocks trying to get the president’s picks through the tight margins in the Senate. 

The picks come after Biden formally withdrew the nominations of two judicial picks who were stuck in limbo in the Senate confirmation process. 

Biden pulled the nomination of Michael Delaney to serve on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after controversy his controversial handling of a sexual assault case at a boarding school in New Hampshire. And he withdrew the judicial nomination of Jabari Wamble, who last week asked to be pulled out of consideration after a nearly two-year wait for action on confirmation.