By Charles Toutant @ Law.com, Oct. 19 

The U.S. Senate confirmed Christine O’Hearn on Tuesday to a U.S. District Court judgeship, bringing sorely needed help to the shorthanded District of New Jersey.

O’Hearn’s nomination was approved by a 53-44 vote, with most Republican senators voting no. She becomes the third nominee of President Joe Biden to win confirmation in New Jersey [....]

[....] The vote splitting largely on party lines does not suggest any controversy about O’Hearn, but is merely a reflection of the current mindset among senators about judicial selection, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who studies federal judicial selection.

“There were a lot of close votes when [Donald] Trump was in, and there is a payback going on,” Tobias said.

Three Republican senators—Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—crossed the aisle to join with independents and Democrats in support of O’Hearn [....]