Biden Gets Two Vacancies To Fill On Influential D.C. Circuit Court

Judicial musical chairs are playing out well for President Biden on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

On Thursday, Judge David Tatel announced that he is stepping down, handing Biden a second vacancy to fill on the D.C. Circuit The other vacancy is expected in a matter of weeks when Judge Merrick Garland is confirmed as U.S. Attorney General.

Judicial sources tell NPR that once Garland is confirmed, Biden is expected to nominate Judge Katanji Brown Jackson to replace him. She has been a federal trial judge for 8 years, and is on President Biden's short list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court should a vacancy occur there. She is 50, African American, and was on President Obama's Supreme Court short list in 2016.