MONTPELIER – The Vermont Senate has approved Michael P. Drescher and Christina E. Nolan to serve as associate justices for the Vermont Supreme Court.

Lt. Gov. John Rodgers ended up breaking a 15-15 senate vote for Drescher, 60, of Hinesburg to win his seat on Tuesday.

The Drescher vote was along party lines except two senators from Bennington County, both Democrats, joined the 13 Republicans in the senate to help cause the tie.

Sens. Rob Plunkett and Seth Bongartz are two of the three lawyers in the Vermont senate and both said they had wanted to vote no initially, but after a full and fair review, reading court records and interviewing Drescher, they each realized he was the proper pick.

Plunkett and Bongartz had been under the gun in recent days to vote with their party and not their conscience, some senators said. The arm-twisting continued into Tuesday morning as the senate convened.

Sens. Plunkett and Bongartz, who have been lawyers for about 20 years or more, explained during floor debate that they believed Drescher did the job expected of him when he was thrown into defending two unrelated immigration cases last spring. They involved Mohsen Mahdawi of Windsor County and Rumeysa Ozturk.

Bongartz offered what he said was apparently an untold example of Drescher’s ability to do the right thing in one of the immigration cases. After a federal judge in Vermont ordered Ozturk freed from a Louisiana prison, officials there tried to attach an electronic ankle monitoring bracelet on her. An ACLU lawyer called Drescher to complain and instead of ignoring the situation, he told him to stay on the line while he got the federal judge on the phone, Bongartz said.  Drescher asked the judge to issue a written order making it clear the federal officials in Louisiana needed to release Ozturk with no monitoring.  She was immediately  freed.

“He is exactly what we need,” Bongartz said about Drescher.

After the senate vote, Drescher, a former longtime assistant U.S. Attorney for Vermont, said he appreciated the support he received and will work hard to prove his nomination was worthy.

“I am deeply grateful for the trust both the Governor and the Senate have placed in me, and I am honored to join the men and women of Vermont’s judiciary,” he told Vermont News First.

“While this past month has been challenging, I will be a better person and Associate Justice on account of the experience. I look forward to joining the other members of the Court in upholding the rule of law and protecting the rights of individuals,” Drescher said.

Drescher, who also has experience with a top Burlington law firm, stepped down as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for Vermont before the senate confirmation process began last month.

Nolan, who was approved 23-7, is a former assistant U.S. Attorney and was later named by President Donald Trump in his first term to head the office (2017-2021).

The seven votes against Nolan were all from Democrats and included the full Windsor County delegation of Sens. Allison Clarkson, Joe Major and Becca White.  Also rejecting Nolan were Sens. Martine Larocque Gulick and Ginny Lyons from Chittenden County.  Democrat/Progressive Sens. Andrew Perchlik and Ann Watson of Washington County rounded out the opposition.

Attempts to reach Nolan, 46, of Burlington, by phone and text after the vote were unsuccessful. She resigned from Sheehey, Furlong & Behm before starting the confirmation process.

The Vermont Senate needed only about 15 minutes to approve Nolan, but there was considerable debate for over an hour about Drescher and some of his work in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

 It centered mostly on the two immigration cases that Drescher never filed, but rather was thrust into defending last year when President Donald J. Trump and others were sued.

Sens. Clarkson and White said they were very disappointed with the outcome of the votes.

“I’m profoundly disappointed,” Clarkson told the Vermont Standard.

Clarkson said she believes Nolan is overwhelmingly conservative based on her record. The senator said she fears the court will move to the right with the two new justices.

While not mentioned on the senate floor, White told the Vermont Standard she also was not satisfied with the answers from Drescher and Nolan about using the death penalty.

The federal government is seeking the death penalty in two high-profile Vermont killings, including the execution of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent in Coventry in January 2025. The other involves a Burlington man charged with the fatal shooting of two out-of-state drug dealers in Orleans County with the bodies being dumped in Lamoille County.

White said the votes are disappointing to her district.

“Additionally, in my speech voting no on Mr. Drescher’s nomination I reflected on the courage of the people of the Upper Valley during Mohsen Mahdawi’s unlawfully detainment, and that I felt a Vermont Supreme Justice should have the same level of courage that my own constituents showed during that time,” White said.

“I voted no, and explained my no vote with a simple statement of ‘I am voting no in solidarity with the courageous people of the Upper Valley.’”

White called it a “shocking twist” that the vote ended in a tie for Drescher and that Rodgers had to break the stalemate.

She said the vote by Rodgers was “distasteful.”

White noted that moments later “while members of the Upper Valley community still wept in the halls, he stepped outside to take his re-election campaign photographs with smiling Senate Republican colleagues on the State House steps.”

Rodgers had long planned to announce his re-election run on Tuesday. The decision to vote on the justices was scheduled late last week.

Clarkson said she believes Drescher “lacks the moral courage” to make the right decisions. She said dozens have resigned instead of defending the Trump administration.

Sen. Major did not respond to phone and email requests by the Vermont Standard for comment by Tuesday night.

There was irony in the votes both in the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full senate because of the background of both candidates. Nolan has been a staunch conservative Republican and a Trump appointee.

Drescher has been apolitical when it comes to his politics during his 30 years of service both in private practice in Burlington and as a federal prosecutor. The Democrats in 2024 had advanced the name of Drescher as one of four recommendations from a Vermont legal screening panel to President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to become a federal judge in Southern Vermont. Biden picked a woman who was a public defender in Rutland County, as the new judge.

Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-0 for Nolan.  The committee voted 3-2 along party lines against Drescher.

The committee chair, Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden and Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, D-Chittenden voted against the Drescher nomination.

Vice Chair Robert Norris, R-Franklin, and Sen. Chris Mattos, R-Chittenden/Franklin both supported Drescher.

Sen. Scott Beck, R-Caledonia, was among those that spoke in favor of Drescher on Tuesday.

Beck, the Senate minority leader said he had full faith in the review process by the Vermont Judicial Nominating Board, which is used to screen applications.  Drescher was deemed well qualified and surpassed the 75 percent approval rating, he said.

Beck asked for a roll call vote.

Rodgers said after the vote that he also respects the hard work and research by the Vermont Judicial Nominating Board.  After his own research, Rodgers said he knew he should vote for Drescher. 

During the debate on Tuesday, Sen. Clarkson, at one point, proposed the Drescher nomination be sent back to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden, later requested a 20-minute recess, which was approved on a 17-13 vote.

During the break Baruth, the senate president pro temp, and Hashim, as judiciary committee, both told the Democratic caucus that they would not support sending it back.  That meant there were not enough votes to force it back to the committee. 

Plunkett also reportedly said he wanted the vote to be resolved on Tuesday.

When called back into session, Clarkson withdrew her motion.

Sen. Hashim, who reported to the full senate about the judiciary hearings for both nominations, mistakenly said they were lifetime appointments.  Vermont judges face retention votes every six years.

Rodgers announced that both Nolan and Drescher, if approved, would complete terms through March 2029. 

The five justices were last approved in March 2023 and the five serving in 2029 will face the legislature retention votes as a group.

Drescher and Nolan will replace retiring Associate Justices Karen Carroll, 62, of Vernon and William Cohen, 68, of Rutland.

Gov. Phil Scott was pleased that both his nominations were approved.

“I want to commend each senator who had the courage to put Vermonters before politics today. And, I believe the newly appointed Supreme Court Justices will act with that same courage to upload those Vermont values. Michael Drescher and Christina Nolan are exemplary public servants and will continue to serve our state well,” Scott said.

“Making an appointment to the Vermont Supreme Court is one of the most important responsibilities for any Governor. Candidates whose names make it to my desk do not arrive without receiving three fourths majority from the Judicial Nominating Board (JNB) deeming the candidates well qualified to serve,” he said.

“As the backstop of our judicial system, Vermonters expect our Supreme Court Justices to be well qualified, act with integrity, have good character, and most importantly, not allow outside politics to interfere with the confirmation process of a well-qualified candidate,” the Governor said.

“And, as elected officials, we’re expected to do the same – stand up for what’s right, regardless of the pressure, because that’s what Vermonters expect us to do,” Scott said.

“Voting should be based on the character, integrity, and capabilities of the nominees, and the integrity and independence of our judicial branch, rather than the chaotic time we happen to be living in,” Scott said.