State Bar Court Judge Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon Approved as Federal Judge in California
Valenzuela Dixon becomes the 232nd 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, 232 judges nominated by President Joe Biden have now been confirmed by the Senate. With today’s action, 184 of Biden’s judicial nominees have been approved for service on federal district courts.
In a 49-47 vote, Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon was confirmed as a Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She is Biden’s eleventh confirmation to the 28-person court, with one additional vacancy where the President’s nominee is awaiting confirmation by the Senate. Notably, all of Biden’s nominees who have been commissioned to this court have been people of color.
Valenzuela Dixon will assume the Los Angeles-based seat previously held by Philip S. Gutierrez, who took senior status in October 2024. A nominee of President George W. Bush, Gutierrez served on this court from 2007 to 2024 and was Chief Judge from June 2020 to March 2024. Valenzuela Dixon was nominated to this seat on the federal judiciary by Biden in April 2024.
Valenzuela Dixon’s legal career began as an attorney in the Voting Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division from 1998 to 2000. From 2000 to 2006, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. From 2006 to 2011, she was the National Vice President and Director of Litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. From 2011 to 2016, she worked as the Criminal Justice Act supervising attorney for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Since 2016, she has been a Judge on the California State Bar Court in Los Angeles.