MONTPELIER — Senators narrowly confirmed Michael Drescher’s seat on the Vermont Supreme Court after Republican Lt. Gov John Rodgers cast a rare tie breaking vote in the divided chamber Tuesday.

The contentious vote on Drescher came after senators weighed their ethical questions in appointing him. Many feared Drescher would not uphold the rights of Vermonters because he recently served as Vermont’s top federal prosecutor under the Trump administration. In that role, he represented the federal government in the controversial cases involving students Mohsen Mahdawi and Rümeysa Öztürk.

Underlying the debate was a rhetorical question posed by Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham: “At what point is the argument of ‘I was just doing my job’ no longer acceptable?”

Their deliberations and vote on Drescher came after senators confirmed Christina Nolan, also a former lead federal prosecutor in Vermont under the Trump administration, to the highest court after little debate, voting 23-7 in favor.

Both Drescher and Nolan were tapped by Gov. Phil Scott last month to serve on the state’s highest court. Lawmakers in the Senate Judiciary Committee spent weeks interrogating Drescher and Nolan’s respective records.

After earning senate confirmation, both candidates are set to serve lifetime appointments to the state’s highest court.

Among senators, Drescher became the subject of heated controversy due to his representing the Trump Administration in a case advocating for Mahdawi’s detention. In that case, Mahdawi’s lawyers filed a civil lawsuit against the federal government arguing his detention was unlawful.

Mahdawi, a Palestinian student activist at Columbia University who vocally opposed Israel’s war in Gaza, was arrested by immigration authorities in Colchester in April and detained in Vermont. The national attention Mahdawi’s case garnered, and the legal precedent it set, heightened senators’ scrutiny of Drescher. Some said they received hundreds of emails about his candidacy.

Last week a vote in the judiciary committee to recommend Drescher failed 2-3, with only the Republicans in the committee voting in his favor. The other three members of the committee voted against recommending him.

On his candidacy, the committee voted to not to present a recommendation, rather than explicitly not recommending him.