US Senate confirms Zahid Quraishi as the first Muslim-American federal judge in US history

• The Senate confirmed Zahid Quraishi as the first Muslim-American federal judge in US history on Thursday.
• The final vote in the Senate was bipartisan: 83-16.

The US Senate voted 83-16 on Thursday to confirm Zahid Quraishi's nomination as the US District Judge for the District of New Jersey, making him the first Muslim-American in U.S. history to serve as a federal judge.

The most recent of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees received considerable bipartisan support during the vote, with 34 Republicans voting to confirm Quraishi.

Quraishi is currently serving as a magistrate judge for the District of New Jersey.

On the Senate floor, New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez said that Quraishi, "is a man of integrity, a consummate public servant, and a trailblazer for Asian Americans and Muslim Americans across this country who dream of one day presiding over a court of their own."

Quraishi is the son of Pakistani immigrants and previously was a captain in the US Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, as well as a military prosecutor. He was deployed to Iraq in 2004, as well as in 2006.

When Quraishi became a magistrate judge in New Jersey, he became the first Asian-American in the state's history to assume that position.