The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Cindy Chung, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, to serve as a judge for the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Chung, of Pittsburgh, is the first Asian Pacific American to become a Third Circuit judge. She was nominated by President Joe Biden in July last year.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman called the confirmation historic in news releases.

“Cindy Chung has made history (Tuesday). She is the first Asian Pacific American judge to sit on the Third Circuit and, thanks in part to President Biden’s commitment to making our federal courts reflect the great diversity of our nation, she is now one of five women who will actively serve on that bench,” Casey said.

Fetterman echoed Casey’s sentiments.

“It was an honor and a privilege to cast my vote this evening to confirm Judge Cindy Chung to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals,” Fetterman said in a statement. “Her nomination and confirmation as the first Asian Pacific American to serve on the Third Circuit and only the seventh Asian Pacific American woman to serve on any federal circuit court is truly groundbreaking.”

“I was able to speak with Judge Chung as one of my first meetings as a Senator last month, and it was clear from our conversation that she is going to serve the people of Pennsylvania with honor. Congratulations on the historic confirmation,” Fetterman continued.

The Third Circuit Court’s jurisdiction is Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Chung has served as the U.S. Attorney for the district since 2021, and was the assistant U.S. Attorney for the district from 2014 to 2021.

Previously, she served as a trial attorney in the criminal section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and an assistant district attorney in the New York County district attorney’s office.

Chung served as a law clerk for Judge Myron Thompson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

She received her law degree from Columbia Law School in 2002 and her bachelor’s of arts degree from Yale University in 1997.

“Throughout her legal career she has demonstrated a deep understanding of the law, and during her nearly decade-long tenure in the Western District, she served the people of Western Pennsylvania with integrity and a commitment to fair and equal justice. She is a trailblazer in the legal community and I was proud to move her nomination forward and vote to confirm her,” Casey said.

Chung’s confirmation follows that of Judge Arianna Freeman, who became the first Black woman and woman of color on the Third Circuit last year, Casey said.