When the United States Senate convenes, it should promptly agree to cut off debate on District of Maine nominee Stacey Neumann and then expeditiously confirm her.

Ms. Neumann, whom President Joe Biden nominated to succeed District Judge Jon Levy in late April 2024, is extremely intelligent, experienced and independent. From 2005 to 2006, she served as a law clerk for Vermont Supreme Court Justice John Dooley, and from 2006 until 2007 she was a law clerk for Second Circuit Judge Peter Hall. Between 2007 and 2009, Neumann was a staff attorney for the Vermont Office of the General Defender. From 2009 to 2013, the nominee served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Maine U.S. Attorney’s Office. Since 2013, Neumann has practiced mainly employment law at the Portland Murray, Plum, Murray firm where she became a partner in 2017. The Senate must quickly confirm the highly experienced nominee.

The vacancy opened on May 6, 2024, when Judge Levy assumed senior status after many years of dedicated service on the court, which has earned a reputation for promptly, inexpensively and equitably deciding litigation. Maine’s Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Independent Sen. Angus King swiftly instituted a process to recommend a few accomplished, mainstream candidates for Biden’s review, and he chose Neumann.

Stacey Neumann is very smart, diligent, independent and ethical and the nominee possesses balanced temperament. She earned a “well qualified” rating, which is the strongest, from the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Neumann displayed these qualities when she testified in a May 22 Judiciary Committee hearing, and the panel members seemed very pleased with her comprehensive and clear answers.

Republican senators asked Neumann comparatively fewer questions than the other nominees on her panel (those Republican members apparently considered a Southern District of New York, and three Central District of California, nominees more controversial than Neumann). On July 2, the committee met to discuss her candidacy and that of the other four nominees who testified with her. The members approved Neumann with a strong, bipartisan 13-8 vote.

Other ideas show why the upper chamber must promptly confirm Neumann.

First, although Judge Levy has continued to address a large, important caseload, the lack of clarity about who might succeed him continued for nearly a year after the judge announced that he would assume senior status. Second, even though Neumann’s candidacy progressed smoothly since her late April 2024 nomination, requiring that candidates and nominees wait lengthy periods for nomination and confirmation can mean that they must leave careers and lives on hold. Moreover, the delay and partisanship that Republican and Democratic senators have seemingly imposed on the selection process for other nominees did not significantly delay Neumann’s nomination and confirmation.

When the Senate comes into session, it must rapidly confirm Stacey Neumann to the District of Maine vacancy. Her strong record means that she has earned prompt confirmation, and the nominee’s substantial attributes will help the district to keep speedily, economically and fairly resolving a large docket.