On May 27, 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Gee to be a judge on the United States District Court for the Central District of California to replace Judge John G. Davies. However, with Republicans in control of the United States Senate, Gee’s nomination languished, despite her meeting with Clinton on May 24, 2000. Gee never received a hearing before the Republican-controlled United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and her nomination was returned to Clinton at the end of his presidency. President George W. Bush later successfully nominated John F. Walter to the seat to which Gee had been nominated.
On August 6, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Gee to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California, to fill the seat vacated by Judge George P. Schiavelli, who resigned in October 2008. On October 15, 2009, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary referred Gee’s nomination to the full Senate. The Senate confirmed Gee by unanimous consent on December 24, 2009. On March 19, 2010, Gee was inducted to the United States District Court. This makes her the first Chinese American woman to serve as an Article III Judge.