The long wait is over for Kimberly Mueller.
The federal magistrate judge and former Sacramento City Council member was finally confirmed as a federal district judge today by the U.S. Senate after months of inexplicable delay.
Mueller was nominated in March by President Barack Obama, but her nomination had been bottled up by partisan politics.
She will be a welcome addition to the sprawling Eastern District of California, centered in Sacramento. Judges have heavy caseloads and people have to wait inordinately long to get their cases heard.
"I am so pleased that the Senate has finally confirmed Judge Mueller, who will make history as the first female district court judge in the Eastern District of California. Not only is Judge Mueller an outstanding judge, but she will help ease the caseload in the Eastern District, which is one of the nation's busiest federal courts," Sen. Barbara Boxer of California said in a statement.
Boxer noted that other California judicial nominees are still in limbo, including Goodwin Liu for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Edward Chen and Edward Davila for the Northern District of California and Anthony Battaglia for the Southern District of California.
On Friday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein added her congratulations, saying that Mueller will "be an excellent asset for the court."
She also said more work needs to be done on judicial appointments.
"It is senseless that Judge Mueller, a well-qualified and uncontroversial nominee, had to wait over nine months for the Senate to take action to confirm her," Feinstein said in a statement. "It is time to put an end to the obstruction and delay that have been holding so many qualified judicial candidates hostage."
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