Edward Chen

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Edward Chen
	Court: Northern District of California
Progress
	Confirmed 642 days after nomination.
	Nominated: August 6, 2009
	ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
	Questionnaire:
	Hearing: September 23, 2009
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: March 17, 2011 (Oct. 15, 2009, Feb. 4, 2010, Sept. 23, 2010)
	Confirmed: May 10, 2011
	Vote: 56-42

Edward Milton Chen is a federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. He joined the court in 2011 after a nomination from President Barack Obama (D). He assumed senior status on May 17, 2022. Prior to his nomination to an Article III position, Chen was a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.^[1]

Education

Chen received his A.B. in 1975 from the University of California – Berkeley, and his J.D. in 1979 from Boalt Hall School of Law.^[1]^[2]

Professional career

1985-2001: Staff attorney, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California
1982-1985: Attorney in private practice, law firm of Coblentz, Cahen, McCabe & Breyer
1981-1982: Law clerk, Hon. James R. Browning, Ninth Circuit
1980-1981: Attorney, Asian Law Caucus, San Francisco, California
1979-1980: Law clerk, Hon. Charles Renfrew, Northern District of California^[1]^[2]^[3]

Judicial career

Northern District of California

On the recommendation of Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chen was nominated by President Barack Obama (D) for an Article III judgeship on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, replacing Judge Martin Jenkins.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

He was unanimously rated well qualified by the American Bar Association. He had his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 23, 2009, and you can find his hearing transcript here. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination 12-7 on October 15, 2009, but the full Senate returned Chen's nomination to the president on December 24, 2009.^[4]

On January 20, 2010, President Obama renominated Chen and on February 4, 2010, the Senate Judiciary Committee again approved the nomination with a 12-7 party-line vote.^[5]^[6]^[7]

On August 5, 2010, the Senate returned the nomination of Chen to President Obama for a second time, refusing to debate and offer a vote before the body adjourned for its month-long recess.^[8]

On September 13, 2010, President Obama again submitted Chen's nomination to the U.S. Senate.^[9]

Chen's nomination was returned to the president at the end of the 111th Congress. President Obama resubmitted the nomination on January 5, 2011. Chen's nomination was confirmed by a Senate vote of 56-42 on May 9, 2011.^[10] Chen assumed senior status on May 17, 2022.^[1]

Northern District of California, Magistrate

Chen became a federal magistrate judge in 2001.^[3] After his initial term expired, he was reappointed to a new eight-year term. Chen served in this position until becoming an Article III judge in 2011.^[11]

Noteworthy cases

Supreme Court overturns order on Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans (2025)

On January 28, 2025, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem vacated a decision from the Joe Biden (D) administration extending the 2023 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for individuals from Venezuela.^[12] Noem went on to officially end the designation on February 1.^[13] On February 19, the National TPS Alliance, along with several Venezuelans with TPS under the 2023 designation, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the rule change. In the lawsuit, they said Noem's actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and violated the Fifth Amendment's equal protection clause.^[14]

Judge Edward Chen issued an order on March 31 temporarily pausing the implementation of Noem's decisions.^[15] The federal government appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which declined to overturn Chen's order.^[16]

The federal government then filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court on May 1, saying Chen's order was judicial overreach and that TPS decisions are not subject to judicial review, and that Noem's actions were within her authority as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.^[17] On May 19, the Supreme Court granted the federal government's request in an 8-1 decision and stayed Chen's order. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.^[18]

Coverall settlement approved with nearly $1 million in attorneys' fees (2014)

In June 2014, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit, comprised of Judges Chen (sitting by designation), Jay Bybee and Ronald Gould, affirmed nearly $1 million in attorneys’ fees as part of a class action settlement between Coverall, a janitorial company, and its franchisees. Judge Gould wrote the majority opinion in this case. The award was originally approved by Judge Jeffrey Miller of the Southern District of California in February 2012.

Articles: