The Senate approved Sara Hill, former attorney general of the Cherokee Nation, on Tuesday, making her the first Native American woman to serve as a federal judge in Oklahoma.
The Senate voted 52-14 on her nomination, with Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voting in her favor. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-VW) was the only Democrat to vote against her confirmation.
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Hill’s confirmation comes after Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) questioned her impartiality, citing her time as the Cherokee Nation’s top attorney. The governor and the tribe have often been on opposite sides of issues that have landed in federal court.
However, both Lankford and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) expressed support for Hill’s nomination after it was announced, clearing the chamber’s “blue slip” process, in which both senators must sign off on most judicial nominations.
“We agree on a lot of things, but we disagree on this one,” Lankford said of Stitt’s opposition to her nomination following the upper chamber’s vote.
“He’s a Republican governor — I totally get that — if I had a Republican president, we may have two Republican nominees on it. We don’t,” he added.
The Oklahoma senator pushed back on criticism that Hill has an allegiance to the Cherokee Nation.
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“I have no doubt that she is an American first, no doubt on that. When she served for the Cherokee Nation, obviously, she had a perspective that she is the voice of the Cherokee Nation,” Lankford said.
“She’s an Oklahoman. She’s an American, and she understands full well that your job on the federal bench is to not represent one group of Oklahomans; it’s all Oklahomans in the United States. She’s been very clear about her commitment to the United States Constitution and knowing that’s her first responsibility on the bench,” he added.
