Mustafa T. Kasubhai

Mustafa Taher Kasubhai (born 1970) is an American lawyer who has served as a United States magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon since 2018. He is the first Muslim to serve as a federal judge in the United States.

Kasubhai previously served as a judge on the Lane County Circuit Court from 2007 to 2018. In 2023, Kasubhai was nominated by President Joe Biden to become a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Early life and career
Kasubhai was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Reseda in the San Fernando Valley in 1970, and grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Canoga Park. His parents were Indian immigrants, having moved to the United States from Mumbai in the 1960s.

Kasubhai graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992 with a degree in business administration. He completed his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Oregon School of Law in 1996. Kasubhai began his private legal career in a small civil plaintiff's firm until he opened his own practice, the Law Offices of Mustafa T. Kasubhai. He worked primarily between Klamath Falls and Eugene, Oregon, representing workers and unions in workers compensation cases and plaintiffs in civil cases primarily involving torts and work-related injuries. In 2003, Governor Ted Kulongoski nominated Kasubhai to serve on the Oregon Workers' Compensation Board as one of its labor members in Salem, Oregon. He remained there until joining the state bench 2007.

Judicial career
Governor Kulongoski appointed Kasubhai as a judge on the Lane County Circuit Court in 2007. He was re-elected to another six-year term in 2014. Kasubhai is the first Muslim-American to serve on the federal bench in the United States and was the first South Asian-American and Muslim-American judge to be appointed to the Lane County Circuit Court.



Nomination to federal district court
On June 1, 2023, Kasubhai was one of six names U.S. senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley submitted to the White House for a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon created by Marco A. Hernandez, who will assume senior status on August 21, 2024.

On September 6, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Kasubhai to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. On September 18, 2023, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Kasubhai to the seat being vacated by Judge Ann Aiken, who subsequently assumed senior status on December 29, 2023. On October 4, 2023, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During his confirmation hearing, Republican senators questioned him over a ruling that he made in 2020 regarding the George Floyd protests and his statements and writings about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Kasubhai was also questioned on guidance he created for the use of preferred pronouns and honorifics in his courtroom, and whether he was a Marxist based on his past writings. On November 9, 2023, his nomination was favorably reported out of committee by a party-line 11–10 vote. On November 13, 2023, his nomination was returned to the Judiciary Committee because of issues regarding proxy voting in committee. On November 30, 2023, his nomination was reported out committee by an 11–0–8 vote with all committee Republicans in attendance not voting. On January 3, 2024, his nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate and he was renominated on January 8, 2024. On January 18, 2024, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote. His nomination is pending before the United States Senate.

In June 2024, a cloture vote to advance Kasubhai's nomination was set to take place in the U.S. Senate. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer cancelled the planned vote, citing attendance issues. According to Bloomberg Law, "Kasubhai has faced intense opposition from GOP lawmakers who've said that he's too radical for the federal bench."