Senate confirms Alameda County judge to federal bench

The U.S. Senate voted 50-47 Wednesday to confirm Alameda County Superior Court Judge Noel Wise for a federal judgeship in the Northern District of California.

Wise is a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney in its environmental and natural resources division who subsequently worked as an in-house counsel for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and then at her own firm, Wise Gleicher.

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed her to the Alameda County bench in 2014.

Senate Republicans were sharply critical of Wise, who has written widely for news publicans on controversial topics, including gender identity and an opinion piece in the Daily Journal on whether judges should participate in protests.

An article she wrote for The Atlantic accused President-elect Donald Trump of a lack of diversity among his judicial nominees.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking member who sometimes voted for Biden's nominees, made it clear during her nomination hearing in July that he did not support Wise.

"I think you're a zealous advocate who wants to be a judge and an advocate at the same time," Graham said at the hearing.

Wise emphasized that she has written more than 10,000 opinions during her decade on the bench. "The best evidence of the type of federal judge I will be is the type of judge I have been for 10 years who .... always puts the law over my personal beliefs," she told the committee.

The Senate voted 50-49 last month to cut off debate on Wise's nomination, with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-WV, not voting. No Republican supported her in the cloture vote.

Wise was nominated to replace U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila of San Jose, who announced in October 2023 that he would take senior status upon confirmation of his successor.

State Bar Court Judge Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon was confirmed by a 49-47 U.S. Senate vote on Tuesday to be a federal judge on the Central District of California. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Anne Hwang was confirmed last week to another Central District vacancy.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on two other Biden nominees - U.S. Magistrate Judge Benjamin J. Cheeks of San Diego, nominated for a Southern District vacancy; and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Serena R. Murillo, picked for a Central District vacancy.

Senate Democrats struck a deal last month allowing the nominations of several of Biden's district court nominees - including Valenzuela Dixon, Hwang and Wise - to move forward without as many procedural roadblocks from Republicans in exchange for Democrats dropping four circuit court nominees that they said they did not have the votes to confirm.

Democrats have until Jan. 3 to confirm Biden's outstanding judicial nominations, when Republicans will take control of the Senate following their victories in the Nov. 5 elections, ending a four-year run during which Democrats controlled the chamber by a narrow margin.

Biden's nomination of San Diego County Superior Court Judge Rebecca S. Kanter for a Southern District vacancy was dropped. That vacancy will be filled by President-elect Donald Trump.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-CA, hailed the confirmations of Wise, Valenzuela Dixon and Hwang in a statement.

"These three confirmations to California federal district courts are a product of Senate Democrats working around the clock alongside President Biden to identify and confirm record numbers of highly qualified and diverse judges," he wrote.

With Wise's confirmation, Biden has appointed 185 district judges nationwide along with 45 circuit judges. Trump, in his first term, appointed 174 district judges and 54 circuit court judges across the country.