Biden Names Diverse Nominees for the Federal Bench

The president’s first choices for district and appeals court openings reflected his campaign promise to choose judges from outside of traditional backgrounds.

President Biden began a drive to reshape the federal courts on Tuesday with a burst of judicial nominations that put an emphasis on diversity and drew from a broad range of backgrounds including public defenders.

The effort is motivated in part by a desire to offset the conservative mark stamped on the federal judiciary by former President Donald J. Trump, who won confirmation of more than 220 judges,...