Former Montana U.S. attorney Bill Mercer was confirmed to a U.S. District Court judgeship in a partisan vote by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday night.

The Billings attorney, currently in his fourth term as a state representative , was confirmed 53 votes to 46 , with Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, not voting. Mercer will replace U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen, who was appointed in 2011 by Barack Obama and will now move to senior status.

Mercer’s confirmation was a political win for Montana Sen. Steve Daines, who successfully blocked a 2024 attempt by Joe Biden to fill Christensen’s seat with attorney Danna Jackson . Jackson, an attorney for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was touted as the first Indigenous judge nominated to Montana’s federal b

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