The U.S. Senate has confirmed Julien Neals to a judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, providing sorely needed assistance to New Jersey’s short-handed federal bench.

Neals, the Bergen County counsel and a former chief judge of Newark’s municipal court, was approved by a 66-33 vote of the Senate on Tuesday morning. He becomes the first judicial nominee of President Joe Biden to receive a confirmation vote.