The Senate confirmed five U.S. Attorneys today by unanimous consent.
They are:
- Tristram Coffin, Vermont U.S. Attorney
- Joyce Vance, Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney
- Preet Bharara, Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney
- B. Todd Jones, Minnesota U.S. Attorney
- John Kacavas, New Hampshire U.S. Attorney
B. Todd Jones (Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi)
The federal prosecutors were in the first batch of U.S. Attorney nominees President Obama sent to the Senate June 4. Jenny Durkan for the Western District of Washington and Paul Fishman for the District of New Jersey are the only nominees from that group that have not been considered by the Senate or Senate Judiciary Committee yet.
Joyce Vance (DOJ)
U.S. Attorney nominees Steven Dettelbach for Ohio’s Northern District and Carter M. Stewart for Ohio’s Southern District were the only U.S. Attorney appointees that were reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but not considered by the Senate today. The panel endorsed the two nominees yesterday. Read out post about them here.
But there are also other Justice Department nominees the Senate has not considered yet. They are:
- Dawn Johnsen, Office of Legal Counsel (Reported out of committee: March 19)
- Thomas Perez, Civil Rights Division (Reported out of committee: June 4)
- Mary L. Smith, Tax Division (Reported out of committee: June 11)
- Christopher Schroeder, Office of Legal Policy (Reported out of committee: July 28)
Patrick Leahy (Gov)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said confirming today the five U.S. Attorneys along with Vermont U.S. Marshal David Demag and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director David Kappos was “long overdue.” He lamented that the Senate didn’t passed more appointees before the August recess.
“I am disappointed that … several other important executive nominations, remain pending in the Senate but look forward to considering them when the Senate returns in September,” Leahy said in a statement.
Read our previous report on the delays here.
