On January 23, 2002, Schwab was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. Schwab was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 13, 2002; received commission on September 17, 2002; and sworn-in to office on January 1, 2003.

In 2008, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Schwab had the "lowest ranking among federal judges" by 797 lawyers in the Allegheny County Bar Association.

[4] In 2003, Schwab presided over the case involving Tommy Chong's trial for conspiracy to distribute drug paraphernalia (bongs), and sentenced him to nine months in federal prison, as well as a hefty financial penalty.

[9] In 2012, Schwab presided over the West Penn Allegheny Health System v University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) case, and in a rare move, the 3rd U.S.

"[10] On December 16, 2014, Schwab wrote that President Obama's executive action on immigration was unconstitutional[11] in a case involving a Honduran man facing criminal charges for returning to the United States after being deported.