A Maine judge's nomination to a federal appeals court will not move forward following a deal between U.S. Senators. However, Superior Court Judge Julia Lipez could fill a vacant seat on the Maine Supreme court.
President Joe Biden nominated Lipez to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston in May. But her confirmation has been scuttled in a last-minute agreement between Republican and Democratic senators that will advance a larger slate of lower court judges before the president leaves office.
Lipez is among four appellate judges whose confirmation is a casualty of that deal.
Lipez has been a superior court judge since 2022, a seven-year term unanimously approved by the Maine state Senate.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills could nominate her to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, but the governor's office is declining to comment on potential candidates. A spokesperson for the governor did say that the Mills plans to fill the vacancy on the seven-judge law court during the upcoming legislative session.
That vacancy has existed since Joseph Jabar retired from the law court in late January.
