Norton Recommendation Ana Reyes Advanced by Senate Judiciary Committee; Full Senate Confirmation Next

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved Norton recommendation to President Biden Ana Reyes for the U.S. District Court for D.C. The next step will be a confirmation vote by the full Senate. If confirmed, Reyes will be the first Hispanic woman and first openly LGBTQ person to ever serve on that court. Norton's first two recommendations to Biden for the same court, Jia Cobb and Florence Pan, were confirmed by the Senate and are serving on the bench, and President Biden announced his intent to nominate Judge Todd Edelman to the same court at the end of July.

"Ana Reyes has the intelligence, temperament, and integrity to be an excellent federal judge," Norton said. "She will also bring much-needed diversity to the federal bench. I look forward to her full Senate confirmation and service on the bench."

Reyes, a D.C. resident, is a partner at Williams & Connolly LLP, where she maintains a substantial pro bono practice. She is a graduate of Transylvania University, summa cum laude, Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, where she served on the Harvard Law Review, and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, with distinction, where she received a Master of International Public Policy. She clerked for Judge Amalya Kearse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and was selected as the 2017 "Woman Lawyer of the Year" by the Women's Bar Association.

Because D.C. lacks senators to recommend candidates for some positions, Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden granted Norton senatorial courtesy to recommend judges for the U.S. District Court for D.C., the U.S. Attorney for D.C., the U.S. Marshal for the D.C. Superior Court, and the U.S. Marshal for the U.S. District Court for D.C. Norton has established a nominating commission, comprised of lawyers and non-lawyers from all eight wards in D.C., to screen applicants and to make recommendations to her for the senatorial courtesy positions.

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