U.S. Magistrate Edward Chen could be the first Asian American federal judge in the Northern district of California. However, he and his nominator Barack Obama, are facing opposition in the Senate from the Republican party.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, opponents have cited Chen’s history and specific cases he handled as an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, as reasons why the Senate sent Chen’s name back to the White House.
Critics have also spotlighted a speech he gave in 2005, where he questioned whether the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina would have been more swift if the victims were white and middle class, as opposed to black and poor.
This puts the onus on Obama to renominate Chen or nominate another.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, recommended Chen to Obama, and said that he has a “pristine record.”
“My hope is that the president will renominate Ed Chen and we will be able to move his candidacy,” Feinstein said.
