Daines Called Out For Blocking Confirmation of Montana’s First Native American Federal Judge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 6, 2024
CONTACT
gaby@montanademocrats.org
Helena, MT – Montana’s Junior Senator, Steve Daines, is under fire this week for blocking the confirmation of Danna Jackson, a first-generation Kootenai descendant and Tribal attorney for the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe, to the federal bench. Jackson would be Montana’s first federally appointed Native American judge.
Unfortunately, Daines is not only denying Montana experienced leadership on the federal bench, he’s playing politics, putting partisanship over Montana.
Read the press coverage of Daines’ disgraceful actions and how folks are calling him out.
Native News Online: “Jackson was nominated by Biden in April. Since then, Daines has held out the possibility of blocking Jackson’s nomination because, according to the senator, Biden ‘failed to seriously consult with me prior to making this nomination’ but that he would evaluate her background and record to see if she was the right fit for Montana.”
E&E: “As Senator Daines knows, his own team interviewed Danna Jackson more than six months ago. Senator Daines himself has refused to meet with Ms. Jackson,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told E&E News.
The AP: “This claimed lack of consultation seems to be little more than pretext, and it’s shameful that Senator Daines is depriving Montana of the talents of a principled, fair, and impartial jurist like Danna Jackson,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates.
The Daily Montanan Commentary: “The man who is single-handedly holding up an entire National Football League team in the nation’s capital over a name that no longer exists because it is so derogatory wants that same logo forever memorialized while he blocks the woman who could be the first Native American to ever ascend to the federal bench in the state he represents.”
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