The path forward for the White House nominee to be the first American-Indian judge on Montana’s federal trial court is “uncertain,” said the state’s Republican senator.
Sen. Steve Daines said he wasn’t contacted about filling the vacancy prior to the Biden administration’s April 24 announcement of Danna Jackson as the pick. Jackson’s the tribal attorney for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes.
“We’ve heard about the nomination the same way you’ve heard about it. So, it’s unfortunate,” Daines told Bloomberg Government.
When asked about the future of the nomination, he said “I think it’s uncertain.”
But Montana’s Democratic senator, Jon Tester, said that Daines was asked for roughly 18 months to put forward potential contenders for the judgeship. Judge Dana L. Christensen’s decision in December 2022 to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor created the vacancy.
“At some point you’ve got to either move or not, and we moved with Danna Jackson and the White House decided to nominate her,” Tester told Bloomberg Law.
He said he’s “looking forward to him getting on board” with the nomination.
Under current Senate practice, district court nominees require support from both home-state senators to move forward in the chamber.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has stood by the “blue slip” requirement despite calls from progressives to do away with it and accelerate the confirmation of judges in states with Republican senators.
“Sen. Durbin has long defended the blue slip for district courts and looks forward to hearing Sen. Daines’s input,” committee spokesperson Josh Sorbe said when asked if the panel would await the return of a blue slip from Daines before scheduling a hearing for Jackson.
Jackson would be Joe Biden’s fifth American-Indian appointee to the Article III courts if confirmed. The Montana US trial court is one of roughly a quarter of federal district courts that have never had a non-White judge.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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