Thomas was born in San Diego. Thomas' father was a bookkeeper and her mother was a school custodian, neither of whom went to college.[3] She graduated from Stanford University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors. Thomas worked as a client advocate for the San Francisco Bar Association's Volunteer Legal Services Program from 2000 to 2001. She then attended Yale Law School, where she was an essays editor for the Yale Law Journal, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 2004.[2][4]
On September 8, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Thomas to serve as a United States circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit. On September 20, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Thomas to the seat to be vacated by Judge William A. Fletcher, who announced his intent to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor.[7] On October 20, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[8] During her confirmation hearing, Republican senators criticized her work as a civil rights attorney before becoming a Superior Court judge.[9] On December 2, 2021, the Senate Judiciary Committee failed to report her nomination by a 11–11 vote.[10] On December 16, 2021, the United States Senate discharged the committee from further consideration of her nomination by a 50–46 vote.[11] On December 17, 2021, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on her nomination.[12] On December 18, 2021, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 42–25 vote.[13] On January 20, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by a 48–40 vote.[14] She received her judicial commission on January 24, 2022.[6] Thomas became the first black woman to serve on the Ninth Circuit from California,[15] as well as the second black woman to ever serve on the Ninth Circuit after Johnnie B. Rawlinson.
^ ab"Governor Brown Appoints 12 Superior Court Judges" (Press release). Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. November 29, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
^ ab"Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
^"Biden to name three California judges to 9th Circuit vacancies". Los Angeles Daily Journal. September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
^ ab"President Biden Names Seventh Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^"GOP Presses Ninth Circuit Pick on Transgender Bathroom Access".
^"Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 20, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^"Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 2, 2021" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
^"On the Motion to Discharge (Motion to Discharge Holly A. Thomas to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit from the Committee on the Judiciary)". United States Senate. December 16, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
^"PN1169 — Holly A. Thomas — The Judiciary". Congress.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
^"On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture Holly A. Thomas to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit)". United States Senate. December 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
^"On the Nomination (Confirmation: Holly A. Thomas, of California, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit)". United States Senate. January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^"President Biden Makes Judges Koh And Thomas First Korean-American And African American Female Appeals Court Judges In California". Oakland News Now. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
^"Who's who among some possible top Supreme Court contenders". AP NEWS. 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2022-01-28.