Judicial nominee in NC clears hurdle after Pence breaks tie

One of President Donald Trump’s nominees has cleared an important hurdle to filling the nation’s longest judicial vacancy, but it took Vice President Mike Pence to break a tie.

Democrats have been fighting Thomas Farr’s confirmation to serve as a district court judge in North Carolina. Democrats say that Farr, as an attorney hired by the state, defended racially gerrymandered congressional boundaries and a photo ID law. The courts ruled against both measures.

The Senate was expected to hold a final vote Thursday.