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 bench. Dai

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