The Daily Roundup: Mercer's Nomination for a Federal Judgeship Sits in the Hands of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee

Bill Mercer, a state representative from Billings who President Donald Trump nominated for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, had his hearing for the position in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning.

Democratic senators asked Mercer about his record in Montana’s legislature, characterization of Jan. 6 defendants and feelings about court precedents.

Montana’s own Sen. Steve Daines also reiterated his support for Mercer’s nomination to the bench.

“His experience as a widely effective member of the Montana House of Representatives brings him in tune with the needs of our state, our families and our communities,” Daines said as he introduced Mercer to the committee. “I believe his time serving in Helena has given him an important perspective on the law and the importance of judicial impartiality.”

Other Republicans in the state have lined up in support of Mercer’s nomination. Sen. Tim Sheehy previously expressed his support for Trump’s pick, and Gov. Greg Gianforte shared a statement praising Trump’s nomination Wednesday as well.

“With Bill’s distinguished legal career and his life-long commitment to public service, I’m proud to support his nomination,” Gianforte said. “Given his experience in the Montana House of Representatives, I have faith that Bill will serve Montana well and apply the Constitution as our Founders intended.”

I’m Mariah Thomas, here to take you through the hearing, and the rest of today’s Daily Roundup.

During the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, raised concerns about Mercer’s actions in the state legislature.

Specifically, he took issue with Mercer’s opposition to eliminating the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse survivors to file lawsuits against their abusers. It was in 2019 that Montana passed legislation extending the age deadline for a child sexual assault survivor to file a lawsuit against their abuser. What Durbin called a “compromise bill” raised that age from 21 to 27.

Mercer opposed Durbin’s characterization of his actions. He explained the legislature reached a compromise after researching other states’ positions on the matter.

“That puts Montana Code firmly in line with what other states have done,” Mercer said. “And the key thing in that legislation that we did was create a much more robust reporting mechanism that allows us to have clarity, or rather, allows the attorney general of the state to have clarity through the county attorneys on matters being referred for investigation by the Department of Public Health and Human Services.”

Durbin also pushed Mercer for his thoughts on the pardons of individuals who participated in the events of Jan. 6.

“Ranking member Durbin, my position on that is that the pardon power is something that the judiciary has no involvement in, and as a nominee for this position, I don’t believe it would be appropriate for me to comment on that issue,” Mercer responded.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, questioned Mercer about court precedents and following court rulings. Democrats have followed similar lines of questioning for several Trump nominees as they have leaned on the court system to force the president to comply with court orders.

Blumenthal asked Mercer specifically about whether he viewed Brown v. Board of Education, Loving v. Virginia and Obergefell v. Hodges as correctly decided. Mercer, for his part, answered he thought the first two were correctly decided, and views court precedent as binding.

As for court orders, Mercer suggested there could be a rare basis upon which a court order might be challenged, but did not name specific circumstances under which that would happen.

“It’s extremely rare. I’ve never seen it. I’ve never counseled a party for whom I’m representing to take that position, and it would be my … expectation that all parties, regardless of who they represent, comply with any orders that I issue,” Mercer said.

The federal judgeship nomination from Trump isn’t Mercer’s first foray into D.C. politics.

Mercer spent eight years as the U.S. Attorney for Montana under then-President George W. Bush. Bush also nominated Mercer for positions in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked as a principal associate deputy attorney general and an acting associate attorney general.

Serving in both those roles concurrently created concern from Montana’s congressional delegation at the time. In doing so, Mercer violated a federal law requiring his residency in Montana as the state’s U.S. Attorney. He was reportedly only in the state about three days a month at the time.

Then-Sen. Max Baucus suggested Mercer should choose one position or the other, while Sen. Jon Tester called on him to step down. The law requiring residency in the state was later changed.

Mercer eventually withdrew his nomination for a permanent position as associate attorney general in 2007 — a choice he briefly addressed during the hearing Wednesday morning, suggesting it was because he felt uncertain about his prospects of being confirmed by the Senate.

Mercer has worked at Holland & Hart, a law practice based in Denver, Colorado, since 2010.

He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Montana, where he also received a prestigious Truman scholarship, which goes to undergraduate students who hope to dedicate their lives to public service. Mercer earned a Master of Business Administration at Harvard and a law degree from George Mason University. He was first elected to the state legislature in 2019.