Senate confirms 1st Muslim American federal judge in US history

Zahid Quraish is the first Muslim American federal judge to be confirmed by the United States Senate.

Zahid Quraishi was confirmed as the first Muslim American federal judge by the United States Senate on Thursday. Quraishi, currently a magistrate judge, will serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He was confirmed with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 81-16. "Mr. Quraishi will be the first American Muslim in United States history to serve as an Article III federal judge," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in floor remarks on Wednesday ahead of the vote. "The third largest religion in the United States, and he will become the first to ever serve as an Article III judge." "We must expand not only demographic diversity, but professional diversity, and I know that President [Joe] Biden agrees with me on this, and this will be something that I will set out to do," Schumer continued.