Gov. Phil Scott has nominated two people to serve on the Vermont Supreme Court, both of whom have worked as federal prosecutors.
Scott on Monday announced the appointments of Christina Nolan, who served as U.S. Attorney in Vermont during President Donald Trump’s first term, and Michael Drescher, a longtime attorney in the federal prosecutor’s office.
Scott said he selected the two from a list prepared by a judicial nominating board. If confirmed by the Vermont Senate, they will fill seats previously held by justices William Cohen and Karen Carroll, both of whom retired last year.
“Christina and Michael both demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to public service, the rule of law, justice and will be great additions to the Court,” Scott said in a press release, calling the appointment of new justices one of a governor’s greatest responsibilities.
Nolan, a Vermont native who lives in Burlington, served as a state prosecutor before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2010. She was appointed to lead the office by Trump in 2017 and served for four years before stepping down when president Joe Biden was sworn in, as is common during transitions of power.
In 2022, she ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican, losing the primary to Gerald Malloy. She now works in private practice at the law firm Sheehey Furlong & Behm.
She said in a statement that she was “humbled” by the governor’s confidence.
“I grew up on a dirt road in Westford, the oldest of four children, with parents who nourished the early calling I felt to public service,” she said. “This is an opportunity like no other to continue to make a positive difference in the lives of Vermonters and to uphold the rule of the law and the Constitution.”
Trump has yet to nominate someone as Vermont’s U.S. attorney this time around, so, for the past year, the job has largely fallen to Drescher.
A career bureaucrat, the Hinesburg resident has served under both Republican- and Democratic-appointed prosecutors — including Nolan — during a nearly 25-year tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. But in January, Biden-appointed Nikolas Kerest resigned, and Drescher was elevated from first assistant to acting U.S. attorney. That left him to carry out some of the Trump administration’s controversial directives, including several high-profile immigration cases.
Federal law limits how long someone can serve as an acting U.S. attorney, and Drescher’s clock expired in November. He immediately reverted to his old job of first assistant and is now leading the office of roughly 50 staffers in that capacity.
He called an appointment to the state’s highest court an “extraordinary privilege.”
“I have spent the last 30 years working with and appearing before Vermont judges in state and federal courts,” Drescher said in a statement. “Drawing on that experience, I pledge to help lead a court system in which everyone is treated with dignity and respect, justice is administered fairly and efficiently, and individual rights are protected.”
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