Former Tribal Lawyer’s Judicial Nomination Advances in Senate

The nomination of former Cherokee Nation top attorney Sara Hill to a federal trial court seat in Oklahoma advanced in the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support.

The panel on Thursday approved Hill’s selection to the US District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, 14-7.

Hill, who’s now in private practice, would be the first American Indian woman to serve any federal court in the state. She’d also be one of the few American Indian judges to have served in federal courts.

President Joe Biden, who has prioritized professional and demographic diversity in his judicial appointments, has named three American Indian judges so far.

The panel also advanced the nomination of John David Russell, 18-3, to the same district court. Russell is a former assistant US Attorney in the district, and was also a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s Tax Division in Washington.

The nominations are the latest in the White House push to work with Republican lawmakers to fill numerous court vacancies in their states. Nominations to many of the vacancies have required home-state senator approval.

Judiciary Republicans had signaled concerns about Hill’s nomination prior to the vote on Thursday, but several deferred to Oklahoma’s GOP home-state senators, James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin, who’ve supported both nominees.

“Both the US senators have returned their blue slips, and I understand her nomination has been paired with John David Russell,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said before the vote. “So I will be voting yes, mainly out of deference to our colleagues from Oklahoma.”

Biden’s other red state nominees advanced out of committee with significant bipartisan support or by voice vote this year, including John Kazen for the Southern District of Texas and Irma Carrillo Ramirez for the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ramirez was confirmed with strong bipartisan support while Kazen awaits action by the full Senate.