Regulators at both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are examining Apple for possible antitrust violations, the New York Times reported late Tuesday.

The DOJ is focusing on Apple’s music platform, iTunes, and exploring whether the company used its dominant position in digital music distribution to keep record labels from offering one-day exclusives to rival retailer Amazon.com, according to the paper.

The FTC, the Times reported, is separately looking at Apple’s rules for developers who create applications for the iPhone operating system. Apple’s recent entry into the advertising market, with its mobile ad platform iAd, helped Google secure antitrust clearance for its own push into mobile advertising in its purchase of AdMob.

The New York Post reported earlier this month that the agencies were in talks to decide which one would take on an investigation into Apple.

Read the full New York Times story here.

The Senate confirmed by voice vote Tuesday night the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia.

R. Booth Goodwin was nominated to lead the Charleston, W.Va.-based U.S. Attorney’s office on Jan. 20. He has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the office since 2001. Goodwin will replace U.S. Attorney Charles T. Miller. Read more about Goodwin here.

The Senate now confirmed 49 of President Barack Obama’s U.S. Attorney nominees. The chamber has yet to consider another 17 would-be U.S. Attorneys who are waiting for votes in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

President Barack Obama called for an extra $500 million to augment the efforts of the Justice Department and law enforcement agencies to fight crime along the Southwest border.

An administration official told Politico that the funds would be used to increase “agents, investigators, and prosecutors, as part of a multi-layered effort to target illicit networks trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons, and money.”

The announcement came in conjunction with Obama’s decision Tuesday to order 1,200 more National Guard troops to the area along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is proposing $250 million to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops to the border.

McCain said on the Senate floor Tuesday that the White House’s proposal is “simply not enough.”

Jeff Slowikowski, Acting Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs; FBI Special Agent Michael Conrad, recipient of the Missing Children's Law Enforcement Award; and Attorney General Eric Holder (photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice).

Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday a $30 million award to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The announcement came at an awards ceremony held on National Missing Children’s Day in the Great Hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Department Building.

Attorney General Eric Holder (photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice).

Several government officials were on hand for the ceremony including Jeff Slowikowski, Acting Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs; Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan; Chief Postal Inspector William Gilligan; and U.S. Marshals Director John Clark. Three FBI special agents – two from Miami, Fla., and one from Phoenix — received awards for their work on finding missing children.

Holder said the law enforcement community has made great strides over the past decade on combating the abduction of children.

“Before the media, before the experts, before anyone else, families in crisis turn – first – to law enforcement. In these officers, desperate parents, grandparents, and guardians place their trust, as well as their hopes of seeing their missing children again. It’s an extraordinary responsibility – one that our law enforcement community meets with great speed, compassion, and determination,” Holder said in prepared remarks.

Robinson said there was “no bigger advocate for children” than Holder, mentioning his signature issue of reducing the impact of exposure to violence on children.

In addition, the Justice Department published Tuesday the fourth edition of the manual “When Your Child Is Missing: A Family Survival Guide.” The guide was famously promoted by former Attorney General Janet Reno on Larry King Live. They also released a new guide called “The Crime of Family Abduction: A Child’s and Parent’s Perspective,” which was written with the help of six people who had experienced family abduction to help victims and their families.

Here’s a list of award recipients from the Justice Department:

Attorney General’s Special Commendation Award: Recognizes the extraordinary efforts of an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), an ICAC affiliate agency or an individual assigned to an ICAC Task Force or affiliate agency for making a significant investigative or program contribution to the ICAC Task Force.

o Recipient: Assistant District Attorney Kelly Miller with the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office, an affiliate to the North Carolina ICAC, for her investigative work which led to the prosecution of an adult offender for child sexual abuse. The defendant was sentenced to 115 to 142.5 years in prison. Her outstanding coordination of the case and extraordinary care and attention to the victim were highlighted.

Jeff Slowikowski, Laurie Robinson, Miama FBI Special Agents Catherine Koontz and James Lewis and Attorney General Eric Holder (photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice).

Missing Children’s Law Enforcement Award: Recognizes the extraordinary efforts of a law enforcement officer who has made a significant investigative or program contribution to the safety of a child.

o Recipient: Special Agent Michael J. Conrad from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s office in Phoenix, who assisted in the recovery of an abducted 2-year-old child.

Missing Children’s Citizen Award: Honors the extraordinary efforts of private citizens for their unselfish acts to safely recover missing or abducted children.

o Recipients: Postmaster James Pantoja, Mail Carrier Tony Palma, and Distributor Associate Denultra Camp from the Tombstone, Ariz., Postal Facility who, upon the receipt of a missing child poster, distributed the information and used it during daily operations to contribute to the safe recovery of a 9-year-old child.

Missing Children’s Child Protection Award: Honors the extraordinary efforts of a law enforcement officer who has made a significant investigative or program contribution to protecting children from abuse or victimization.

o Recipient: Special Agents Catherine Koontz and James T. Lewis of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s office in Miami, who investigated and coordinated law enforcement operations focused on an Internet case involving thousands of images of child pornography that led to an investigation of sexual abuse of children.

Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced legislation last week that would prohibit companies convicted of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act from contracting with the federal government.

The measure (HR 5366) would debar any company that violates the FCPA, although it would allow the head of any federal agency to waive that requirement if it submits a report to Congress explaining the reason for the waiver.

The legislation is a response to concerns about Blackwater Worldwide — now called Xe Services. In 2007, employees of Blackwater killed 17 Iraqis in a shooting in Baghdad’s Nisur Square. The Blackwater guards, who were contracted to provide security for U.S. government employees in Iraq, claimed they had fired in self defense after an attack by insurgents. But the government said the guards fired without provocation.

Last year, the Justice Department opened an investigation into whether Blackwater paid bribes to Iraqi officials to ensure the company could continue doing business in the country after the shooting. The New York Times reported that top Blackwater executives had approved around $1 million in secret payments to Iraqi officials after the 2007 incident.

“Simply put, those convicted of bribing foreign officials have no business doing business with the federal government,� Welch said in a statement after the bill was introduced. “Companies that flagrantly violate the rule of law – as Blackwater is accused of doing – ought to be stripped of their ability to profit off of American contracts.�

The bill has been referred to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Oversight Committee Chairman, Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), has been pushing for the Justice Department to pursue debarment against companies that violate federal contracting requirements. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder last week, Towns asked why the DOJ has not included suspensions or debarments in several recent criminal and civil settlements.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Beth Brinkmann urged a House panel Tuesday to approve legislation that would make is easier for federal officials sued in state court to move their cases to a federal forum.

Beth Brinkmann (photo by Aruna Viswanatha / Main Justice)

Brinkmann said the changes would improve the Justice Department’s ability to represent federal officials and agencies.

“It would allow the federal government to seek removal before becoming deeply embroiled in state proceedings,” she said.

Congress is considering amending a procedural statute in order to let federal officials move lawsuits against them to a federal court as soon as a subpoena is issued.

Federal agents are generally limited by their agency’s rules governing what official information they can be required to turn over, and they have a “right” to have a federal court decide whether they needs to comply with the subpoena, Brinkmann said.

The problem crops up in common scenarios, she said, for example, when an FBI agent is subpoenaed in a state criminal proceeding after working on a related investigation, or a Federal Aviation Administration official is subpoenaed by private parties who are in litigation over liability of an airline crash.

Circuit courts have split on the issue. Under current law, some courts have ruled that a lawsuit against a federal agent can be moved to federal court when a subpoena is issued, while others have found the court has to attempt to enforce the subpoena before the parties can attempt to move the case.

The measure would also give the DOJ another arrow in its defense quiver. Under current law, if a federal district court rejects a motion to move a case to federal courts, the case is returned to state court and the official cannot appeal to a federal circuit court. The measure would let an official ask a federal appellate court to reconsider the district court decision.

The bill (HR 5281) is sponsored by Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who heads the courts and competition subcommittee, and is co-sponsored by the subcommittee’s ranking member, Howard Coble (R-N.C.), as well as the  Judiciary Committee’s chairman and ranking member, John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Lamar Smith (R-Texas).

The general counsel of the House of Representatives, Irvin Nathan, also testified in favor of the legislation.

President Barack Obama’s recently announced Deputy Attorney General nominee may have to wait awhile.

The White House sent to the Senate on Monday Obama’s nomination of former public corruption prosecutor James Cole for the Justice Department’s No. 2 position. Cole would replace acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler, who has held Justice Department’s number two spot since David Ogden stepped down in February.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement last week that his panel would consider the Cole nomination at the “earliest possible time” and he hoped to expedite consideration of Cole like the Senate did with President George W. Bush’s Deputy Attorney General nominee in 2007.

The panel held a hearing for then-Deputy Attorney General nominee Mark Filip two weeks after his Dec. 5, 2007, nomination. The committee voted on Filip on Jan. 31, 2008, after the Senate returned from its holiday recess. The Senate later confirmed him by voice vote on March 3, 2008.

But exactly how quickly the notoriously slow Senate can move in a hyper-partisan election year remains to be seen.

On Tuesday, Leahy brushed off questions about a hearing date. A Democratic committee aide also told Main Justice that the panel won’t move to schedule a hearing until it receives Cole’s questionnaire.

Republicans also don’t seem to be itching to get started.

Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking panel Republican, said in a statement last week that the committee “must not rush the process.”

Sessions said Cole’s role in monitoring American International Group, the insurance company that was the recipient of a multibillion-dollar government bailout, “will need to be closely examined.” Cole is currently a partner at Bryan Cave LLP.

The panel’s work this summer also will be focused on Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Her hearing is set to commence on June 28 and Leahy anticipates that she will be confirmed before the end of the summer.

The committee has moved on nominees while considering Supreme Court picks. Last summer, the panel reported out then-Office of Legal Policy nominee Christopher Schroeder the same day it approved Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor — though Schroeder’s nomination was held up for another nine months because of Republican objections to his criticism of President George W. Bush’s national security policies.

Additional reporting by Ryan J. Reilly.

David Ogden and Elena Kagan were the two finalists for Deputy Attorney General. Ogden won out.

By December 2008, Eric Holder and aides to the president-elect had narrowed a list of possible Deputy Attorneys General to two: Elena Kagan and David Ogden.

Holder and Kagan, then the dean of Harvard Law School, weren’t perfect strangers — both served in the Clinton administration — but they weren’t close, either.

Ogden and Holder knew each other well, having both served as top officials in Janet Reno’s Justice Department, and Ogden was spearheading the agency’s transition for Barack Obama.

Few registered surprise when Obama nominated Ogden as Deputy Attorney General in early January 2009. Holder had made the final decision. People familiar with his thinking at the time said he wanted someone with Justice Department experience in the deputy slot, for practical as well as symbolic reasons.

Kagan had been mentioned as a finalist for Solicitor General, though she had never made an appellate argument, and Holder and the White House agreed she was up to the task. Her name was already being floated for the Supreme Court.

Kagan’s brush with the deputy position underscores the serendipity of the Supreme Court nominee: Had Holder swung the other way, selecting Kagan as the department’s day-to-day manager, her path to the high court might have been more like a slog.

Deputy Attorney General is a policy role — the most visible next to Attorney General — while Solicitor General, the federal government’s top advocate before the Supreme Court, largely entails legal work.

Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, said she expected Kagan to deflect questions about her work as Solicitor General by explaining that her role was to defend the law as it was, not as she would have it.

“She would not have had that cover if she were Deputy Attorney General,” Severino said.

Kagan’s confirmation hearings could have turned into a marathon Justice Department oversight hearing, or a referendum on the Obama administration’s national security policies. She would have had to answer to Holder’s deeply unpopular bid to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal court in Manhattan, and to the department’s controversial decision to read a Nigerian man who attempted to blow up plane on Christmas Day his Miranda rights.

“Holder has been through a lot, and she would have been tarred with all those things he’s been tarred with,” Severino said. “There would have been so many questions of what role she played.

“I’m sure she’s glad to be distanced from all that.”

On the other hand, Kagan could have shared in the the credit for collaring accused Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad in about two days’ time and for implementing increased training for federal prosecutors in the wake of the Ted Stevens case.

But in modern confirmation hearings, less is more, said Curt Levey, executive director of the conservative Committee for Justice.

“We wouldn’t have to wait for the Clinton papers” if Kagan had been deputy, said Levey, referring to the production of hundreds of thousands of documents from Kagan’s time as associate White House Counsel and deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council.

“Everyone agrees that part of Kagan’s appeal is that she’s somewhat of a stealth candidate,” Levey said, adding that he believed Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and finalist for the nomination, had accumulated too much baggage to win easy confirmation. (The White House said Napolitano was simply too good at her current job to let go.)

Marge Baker, executive vice president for policy and program planning for the liberal People for the American Way, ventured that Kagan’s experience as Solicitor General was “an asset.” Baker would not say whether her group would have had a more difficult time making its case for Kagan had she beat out Ogden for the deputy post.

The last Deputy Attorney General to ascend to the Supreme Court was Byron White, whom John F. Kennedy nominated in 1962. But jumping from being the “10th justice,” as the Solicitor General is often called, to the ninth is almost as rare.

Justice Thurgood Marshall, for whom Kagan clerked and whose portrait hangs in her office, was the last Solicitor General to take the bench. Lyndon Johnson nominated him in 1967.

At a meeting of the President’s Puerto Rico Task Force Tuesday, Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli said the White House was open to the idea of the U.S. territory becoming a state.

“The president strongly believes that the status question is a significant one. He also believes that Puerto Rico’s status must be based on self-determination by the people of Puerto Rico,” said Perrelli in remarks opening the meeting. “And we on the task force are here with open minds on this issue.”

Perrelli, who co-chairs the task force, said that the public hearings were being held because of President Barack Obama’s pledge that the government be open, transparent and accountable. “That’s why as part of the process we have undertaken with the task force on Puerto Rico’s status, everyone around this table agreed that we needed to hold public hearings,” said Perrelli.

The hearings will continue throughout the afternoon, and are streaming on the White House website.

Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli said Tuesday that the Justice Department does not support the “arbitrary cap� on damages a company is required to pay for an oil spill.

Thomas Perrelli (photo by Andrew Ramonas / Main Justice)

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which was enacted in the wake of the Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill, capped parties’ responsibility for damages to natural resources, property and the livelihoods of people at $75 million.

The issue of a damages cap for oil spills has taken on new significance in the wake of the British Petroleum drilling rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico last month.

BP officials have testified before Congress that they will not limit themselves to the restriction and will pay all justifiable claims. Congress is working with the Obama administration on legislation that would make changes to the cap — either by increasing or eliminating it. A group of Democratic Senators, led by Robert Menendez of New Jersey, have proposed increasing the cap to $10 billion.

At a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Perrelli said the DOJ will hold BP to its word. But he declined to comment on whether the BP statements were legally binding.

The Associate Attorney General said the Obama administration is “focused on going forward� and is not pushing for legislation that would ensure that BP keeps its promise.

“They have made that commitment,� Perrelli told members of the panel. “We take that seriously and we will work with them to ensure that they do so. I think our focus on the legislative proposal is a transition into a new liability regime.�

Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking panel Republican, were a part of a Senate delegation that visited the Gulf Coast on Monday to assess the damage. The senators said BP must be held accountable for the disaster.

The DOJ has brought together prosecutors from the DOJ Civil and Environment and Natural Resources divisions as well as U.S. Attorneys in the Gulf Coast region to work on efforts to address the legal issues surrounding the April spill, Perrelli said.

The Associate Attorney General said the DOJ’s mandate is to “recover every dime of taxpayer funds� that are used to handle the disaster.

“We have been working tirelessly … [to] ensure that the American people do not pay for any of the damages for which others are responsible,� Perrelli said.