Spokane judge nominated by Biden for federal post
President Joe Biden has nominated Spokane Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren to fill the role of U.S. District Court judge in the Eastern District of Washington.
Bjelkengren, 46, was recommended for the post by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Bothell, who said the judge exemplifies diversity of professional experience and background.
“A judiciary that serves all people fairly—not just the rich and powerful—and upholds the rule of law is at the bedrock of our democracy, and I am confident that Judge Bjelkengren will bring those values to the federal bench,” said Murray in a written statement. “I look forward to seeing her continue to serve Eastern Washington as a judge on the District Court, and I’ll work hard to advance her nomination as quickly as possible to consideration by the full Senate.”
Bjelkengren was the first black female judge in Eastern Washington when she was appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2019.
Biden has made increasing diversity on the federal bench a priority and as of July 1, more than two-thirds of his 68 judicial nominees confirmed by the Senate have been nonwhite, and more than three-quarters are women, according to a report by the American Bar Association.
If confirmed, Bjelkengren will replace Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. whom Biden has nominated to serve on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
With Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote, Democrats control the Senate and are likely to confirm both Bjelkengren and Mendoza.
According to the White House website, Bjelkengren moved to Spokane to study law at Gonzaga University after earning her bachelor’s degree from Mankato State University – now Minnesota State University – in 1997. She received a law degree from Gonzaga in 2000 and then served as a Washington state assistant attorney general starting in 2003, and as an administrative law judge in the Office of Administrative Hearings in Spokane Valley from 2013 to 2019.
This is Biden’s 26th round of nominees for federal judicial positions and his 13th slate of nominations in 2022, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 143.
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