(C) Daily Montanan
This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Mercer gets nomination hearing for U.S. District Court seat • Daily Montanan [1]
['Micah Drew', 'Darrell Ehrlick', 'Jordan Hansen', 'More From Author', '- July', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']
Date: 2025-07-31
Bill Mercer, a Republican state lawmaker from Billings, sat for his nomination hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee this week, the next step towards taking a seat as a U.S. District Court Judge in Montana.
Montana’s senior U.S. Sen. Steve Daines introduced Mercer to the committee on Wednesday, detailing his history of working at the state and federal level and expressing staunch support for President Donald Trump’s nominee.
“Throughout his extensive legal career and years of public service, Bill has represented Montana’s interests well. He is committed to the rule of law and original interpretation of the Constitution,” Daines said in his remarks. “Bill understands Montana-specific laws and issues. His experience as a widely-respected and effective member of the Montana House of Representatives brings him in tune with the needs of our state, our families and our communities. I believe his time in Helena has given him an important additional perspective on the law and the importance of judicial impartiality.”
The judicial committee heard from four nominees to federal courts — Mercer, a U.S. District Court of Kentucky nominee, and picks for the First and Ninth circuit courts of appeals.
During roughly 30 minutes, Mercer fielded questions from members of the committee, with Democrats pushing Mercer on the prosecution of Jan. 6 defendants; previous U.S. Supreme Court precedents and his work in the Montana Legislature.
Ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, focused on votes taken by Mercer during the 2019 Legislature against a bill that would have eliminated a three-year statute of limitations for civil lawsuits by child sex abuse victims.
Mercer pushed back on Durbin’s characterization of his opposition and the law, which ultimately passed the Legislature after some compromise, with Mercer as a co-sponsor. The law raised the statute of limitation for victims to file a suit from three years to the age of 27, which Mercer said was done based on how similar legislation in other states was worded.
“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,” Mercer said. “We thought it was very important legislation, and we’re pleased with the outcome.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, asked Mercer how he viewed several court precedents including Brown vs. Board of Education, Loving vs. Virginia and Obergefell vs. Hodges.
Mercer stated that he believed Brown and Loving were correctly decided, but then specified that for Obergefell, “that’s binding precedent that the Supreme Court has issued. And if I had that matter come before me, I would adhere to that binding precedent.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, asked about Mercer’s expectations that parties to lawsuits follow court orders he issued. Under the latest Trump administration, there have been instances of federal officials failing to comply with court orders.
“I think there are extremely narrow circumstances where there may be a basis to say that there is a legal basis not to follow the order. It’s extremely rare. I’ve never seen it,” Mercer said. “I’ve never counseled a party for whom I’m representing to take that position, and it would be my position, if confirmed that it’d be my expectation that all parties, regardless of who they represent, comply with any orders that I issue.”
The president nominated Mercer for a seat on the federal bench in Montana earlier this month, where two sitting judges have announced their retirement to senior status, but are awaiting new appointments.
“Bill has TREMENDOUS experience, previously serving at the Department of Justice and, as United States Attorney for the District of Montana,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “He is STRONG and SMART, will fearlessly uphold the Rule of Law, and defend our Constitution on the Federal Bench.”
Mercer has been a lawyer in the state for more than three decades, and has argued cases before the Montana Supreme Court and federal appeals courts.
In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Mercer as U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, a position he held until 2009. He also served as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General and Acting Associate Attorney General during the Bush administration.
Concurrently holding positions within the Department of Justice drew criticism from Montana’s federal delegation at the time for potentially violating federal laws requiring a U.S. Attorney to fully reside within the state they oversee, and then working to change the laws.
Former Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, had called for Mercer to resign as U.S. Attorney, after it was reported that Mercer and other senior Bush administration aides pushed legislation to change residency requirements. Former Montana Sen. Max Baucus, also a Democrat, had asked Mercer to pick one of his two positions.
Since 2019, Mercer has served four terms in the Montana House of Representatives, During the 2025 session, Mercer carried 25 bills the governor signed into law. Much of his legislation the past session focused on medical issues, as well as protections for children and elderly adults.
Gov. Greg Gianforte praised Mercer’s nomination in a statement yesterday.
“With Bill’s distinguished legal career and his life-long commitment to public service, I’m proud to support his nomination. 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,” Gianforte said. “I urge the Senate to swiftly confirm him to serve Montana in this new capacity.”
Mercer’s nomination has also drawn messages of support from Montana lawmakers on the other side of the aisle, with Missoula Democratic Sen. Ellie Boldman writing on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, “Bill is a respected professional & exceptionally qualified … I enthusiastically support his nomination for fed’l bench.”
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://dailymontanan.com/2025/07/31/mercer-gets-nomination-hearing-for-u-s-district-court-seat/
Published and (C) by Daily Montanan
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/
