US Senate confirms key new Maine officials

The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed President Donald Trump’s appointees for U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal for the District of Maine.

In party line votes, Judge Andrew Benson of Unity got the nod to be the next U.S. attorney, and former Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre was confirmed as U.S. marshal.

Both nominees received bipartisan support in the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year. They were approved “en bloc,” along with 47 other nominees in a single vote, prompting dissent from Maine’s junior senator.

Benson and St. Pierre were recommended to Trump by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a five-term Republican whose Federal Appointments Advisory Committee helps vet possible appointees.

“Judge Benson and Chief St. Pierre have each devoted more than three decades to public service and law enforcement in Maine,” Collin said in a written statement. “I was proud to support both their nominations and now confirmations, and I am confident that they will serve the people of Maine with distinction.”

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Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also signed off on the recommendation. But King joined Democrats in voting “no” on Monday.

A King spokesperson said the junior senator opposed approving all of the nominations in a single vote, because the slate included “many seriously problematic candidates.”

St. Pierre is a 2018 graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, who oversaw the Lewiston Police Department during the 2023 mass shooting that resulted in 18 deaths. He retired last year after serving more than 30 years with the department.

The U.S. Marshals Service is the enforcement arm of the federal courts. Its duties include protecting the federal judiciary, managing property seized from criminals, transporting federal criminals and overseeing the Witness Protection Program.

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Benson, a graduate of the University of Maine Law School, is currently serving as the interim U.S. attorney of Maine, a position to which he was appointed last October. He was a Maine District Court judge from 2014 to 2025. Prior to that, he was a homicide prosecutor in the Maine Office of Attorney General for 15 years.

Benson will now be the chief federal law enforcement officer for the District of Maine. He’s one of 83 U.S. attorneys, and the only one in Maine.

Despite Monday’s partisan votes, both nominees received strong bipartisan support from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Benson was recommended 19-3 in January and St. Pierre was endorsed 20-2 in March.