Career Federal Defender Catherine Henry Approved as Judge in Pennsylvania

Henry becomes the 225th federal judge confirmed by the U.S. Senate during Joe Biden's presidency.

The U.S. Senate today held a recorded vote to confirm one individual as an Article III federal judge. With this confirmation, 225 judges nominated by President Joe Biden have now been confirmed by the Senate. With today’s action, 177 of Biden’s judicial nominees have been approved for service on federal district courts.

In a 50-48 vote, Catherine Henry was confirmed as a Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She is Biden’s sixth confirmation to the 22-person court, with one additional vacancy where the President’s nominee will receive a confirmation vote in the Senate later today.

Henry assumes the Easton and Philadelphia-based seat previously held by Edward G. Smith, who died at age 62 while on active service in November 2023. A nominee of President Barack Obama, Smith joined the district court in March 2014. Henry was nominated to this seat on the federal judiciary by Biden in June 2024.

From 1996 to 2002, Henry worked as an Assistant Defender in the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Since 2002, she has served in the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania - as an Assistant Federal Defender from 2002 to 2008 and as a Senior Litigator since 2008. Since 2009, she has also been a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.