Jeannette Vargas Explained

Jeannette A. Vargas
Office:	Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Term Start:	November 6, 2024
Appointer:	Joe Biden
Predecessor:	Paul G. Gardephe
Birth Name:	Jeannette Anne Vargas
Birth Place:	Flushing, Queens, New York, U.S.
Education:	Harvard College (AB) Yale University (JD)

Jeannette Anne Vargas (born 1973)^{[1] [2]} is an American lawyer who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York since 2024. She previously served as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York from 2002 to 2024.

Education

Vargas earned a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1995 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2000.^[3]

Career

From 2000 to 2001, Vargas worked as an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City. From 2001 to 2002, she was a law clerk for Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From 2002 to 2024, she served as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. In that role, from 2010 to 2014, she served as chief of the Tax and Bankruptcy Unit, from 2014 to 2016, she was senior trial counsel and she served as deputy chief in the Civil Division from 2016 to 2024.

Federal judicial service

Vargas was recommended to the Biden administration by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.^[4] On March 20, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Vargas to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. On March 21, 2024, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Vargas to the seat vacated by Judge Paul G. Gardephe, who assumed senior status on August 9, 2023.^[5] On April 17, 2024, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.^[6] On May 9, 2024, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote.^[7] On September 10, 2024, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–43 vote.^[8] Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 51–43 vote.^[9] She received her judicial commission on November 6, 2024.

See also

• List of Hispanic and Latino American jurists

Notes and References

1. Web site: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. April 17, 2024.
2. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Announces Appointments in Civil Division . September 9, 2010 . U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York . March 21, 2024.
3. President Biden Names Forty-Seventh Round of Judicial Nominees and Announces One New Nominee to Serve as U.S. Marshal . March 20, 2024 . The White House . Washington, D.C. . March 20, 2024.
4. Gillibrand Announces Her Recommendation For U.S. District Court For The Southern District Of New York, Jeannette Vargas, Has Been Nominated By President Biden . March 20, 2024 . Senator Gillibrand Press Release Office . March 21, 2024.
5. Nominations Sent to the Senate . March 21, 2024. The White House . Washington, D.C. .
6. Web site: Nominations. April 16, 2024. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Washington, D.C..
7. Senate Judiciary Committee Advances the Protecting Older Americans Act, Four Judicial Nominations to the Full Senate . May 9, 2024 . United States Senate Judiciary Committee . May 9, 2024.
8. Web site: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Jeannette A. Vargas, of New York, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York). United States Senate. September 10, 2024. September 10, 2024.
9. Web site: On the Nomination (Confirmation: Jeannette A. Vargas, of New York, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York). United States Senate. September 10, 2024. September 10, 2024.