WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s nominee for U.S. District Court in Maine will get a hearing next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

If the committee reports out the nomination, the next step for Nancy Torresen will be a confirmation vote by the Senate.

The hearing to consider the nominations of Torresen and four other federal court nominees from other states is set for Wednesday, the committee announced Friday.

Torresen is assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Maine. Obama nominated her in early March to fill the seat being vacated by Judge D. Brock Hornby.

Hornby, nominated in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush, went on senior status last year but continues to handle a full caseload.

Torresen was recommended for the post by Democratic U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud of Maine. The lawmakers initially recommended Michaela Murphy, a Maine Superior Court justice, but she encountered health problems, not disabling but time-consuming, and withdrew her name late last fall before she was nominated.

Both of Maine’s senators, Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, submitted the “blue slips” that home state senators give to the Judiciary Committee if they have no objection to a confirmation hearing being held.

MaineToday Media Washington Bureau Chief Jonathan Riskind can be contacted at 791-6280 or at:

jriskind@mainetoday.com