Politics. On Point.

  President Biden Announces  Nine Key Nominations   WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following nine individuals to serve in key roles: William Valdez , Nominee for Under Secretary for Management, Department of Homeland Security Erik Hooks , Nominee for Deputy Administrator for Federal Emergency Management Agency Lisa Gomez , Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security, Department of Labor Adrienne Wojciechowski , Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations, Department of Agriculture Mark Gitenstein , Nominee for Representative of the United States of America to the European Union, with rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Laura S. H. Holgate , Nominee for Representative of the United States of America to the Vienna Office of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador, and Representative of the United States of America to the International Atomic Energy Agency, wi...

Today, President Obama nominated Valerie E. Caproni, Kenneth John Gonzales, Raymond P. Moore, Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell, Judge William L. Thomas, Judge Analisa Torres and Derrick Kahala Watson for District Court judgeships. Valerie E. Caproni : Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New YorkValerie E. Caproni is Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Northrop Grumman Corporation. Previously, she served for eight years as General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Caproni has had a distinguished legal career in both private practice and public service, including stints at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the New York State Urban Development Corporation, and the law firms of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Cravath, Swaine & Moore. She began her legal career by clerking for the Honorable Phyllis Kravitch of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals...

Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: ·        Camila A. Alire – Member, National Council on the Humanities ·        Ramón Saldívar –Member, National Council on the Humanities President Obama said, “I am confident that these outstanding individuals will greatly serve the American people in their new roles and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.” President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: Dr. Camila A. Alire, Nominee for Member, National Council on the Humanities Dr. Camila A. Alireis Dean Emerita at both the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University. She is also professor of practice in the Managerial Leadership Ph.D. program within Simmons College’s School of Library and Information Science since 2007 and as an adjunct prof...

Here are items we're following at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Today Vice President Biden hosted an event to launch a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) at the White House. The Vice President was joined by Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women Lynn Rosenthal, Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies, David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays and Andy Katz of ESPN.  Featured in the PSA are David Beckham, and Eli Manning the President, the Vice President, and other professional athletes and role models who deliver the message that dating violence is unacceptable.  The PSA, 1 is 2 Many, which also includes New York Knick standout Jeremy Lin, Evan Longoria, David Beckham, and Joe Torre will air on various television networks and online platforms this summer. Click here to view it.   First Lady Michelle Obama spoke at the Creative Arts Center in Pueblo, Colorado today at a campaign event where ...

President Obama nominated Thomas M. Durkin to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Durkin is a partner at the law firm of Mayer Brown LLP, where he handles a broad array of matters including complex commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense.  Prior to joining the firm as a partner in 1993, Durkin served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois for over a decade.  During that time, he served in numerous leadership positions, including Chief of the Special Prosecutions Division, Chief of the Criminal Receiving and Appellate Division, and First Assistant United States Attorney.  From 1978 to 1980, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Stanley J. Roszkowski of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  Durkin received his J.D. with honors in 1978 from the DePaul University College of Law and his B.S. with honors in 1975 from the University of I...

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: Charles Benton , Nominee for Member,National Museum and Library Services Board Charles Benton is the Chairman and CEO of the Benton Foundation.  He also currently serves on the boards of the Educational Development Center in Boston, and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where he was named a Lifetime Trustee.  In addition to his work on these boards, Mr. Benton previously was President or Chairman of the Encyclopaedia Britannica Education Corporation, Public Media, Inc., Films Inc., Home Vision Entertainment, and The Partnership for a Connected Illinois.  In recognition of his work in the media and telecommunications fields, Mr. Benton has been appointed to serve as Chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, Chairman of the First White House Conference on Library and Information Services, and Member of the Presidential Advi...

President Obama nominated Kenneth Magidson, Sarah Ruth Saldaña, Robert Lee Pitman, and John Malcolm Bales to serve as United States Attorneys. John Malcolm Bales : Nominee for United States Attorney, Eastern District of Texas. Malcolm Bales is the interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas,a position he has held since 2009. Over the course of his career, Mr. Bales served within the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas as the Chief and Deputy Criminal Chief for the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (2009; 1992-1995), Assistant U.S Attorney for Special Prosecutions (2006-2008), Chief of the Criminal Division(2003-2006), Attorney-in-Charge (1995-2003), and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney(1989-1992). Mr. Bales also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado in 1995. From 1982 to 1989, Mr. Bales was a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Bales was an attorney for Hancock, Piedf...

President Obama has announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: · D. Brent Hardt , Ambassador to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Department of State.  Hardt is a member of the Senior Foreign Service and currently serves as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean · Donald W. Koran , Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda, Department of State.  Koran is Director for the Office of Africa Analysis in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State · Geeta Pasi , Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti, Department of State.  Pasi is currently the Director of East African Affairs in the Africa Bureau at the Department of State The President also announced his intent to appoint Michael Les Benedict as a Member of the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise. Benedict is a leading scholar of American constitutional history and the...

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: · Eric S. Edelman , Member, Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace · Danny Glaser , Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Department of the Treasury.  Glaser has served as the Department of the Treasury’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes since November 2004. He was responsible for developing and coordinating policies to protect the U.S. and international financial systems from abuse related to money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. · Jon Leibowitz , Commissioner and Chairman, Federal Trade Commission.  Leibowitz has been the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since 2009. He has been an FTC Commissioner since 2004. Before his time at the FTC, Mr. Leibowitz served as vice president for congressional affairs for the M...

The following nominations were sent to the Senate: Felicia C. Adams , of Mississippi, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi for the term of four years, vice James Ming Greenlee, term expired. Clayton D. Johnson , of Oklahoma, to be United States Marshal for the Northern District of Oklahoma for the term of four years, vice Timothy Dewayne Welch, term expired. Nannette Jolivette Brown , of Louisiana, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, vice Stanwood R. Duval, Jr., retired. Wilma Antoinette Lewis , of the District of Columbia, to be Judge for the District Court of the Virgin Islands for a term of ten years, vice Raymond L. Finch, retired. Alfred Cooper Lomax , of Missouri, to be United States Marshal for the Western District of Missouri for the term of four years, vice Charles M. Sheer, term expired. Charles F. Salina , of New York, to be United States Marshal for the Western District of New York for the te...

President Obama nominated David J. Hickton and William C. Killian to serve as U.S. Attorneys. “I am proud to nominate these outstanding individuals to serve as United States Attorneys,” said President Obama. “I am confident they will serve the people of Pennsylvania and Tennessee with distinction.” David J. Hickton Bio. (Southern District of California) David J. Hickton has been a founding member of Burns, White & Hickton, LLC, since the firm’s inception in 1987. Prior to this, Mr. Hickton was an Associate Attorney for Dickie, McCarney & Chilcote, LLC from 1983 to 1987. From 1981 to 1983, Mr. Hickton served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gustave Diamond, United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Hickton is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University in 1978 and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1981. William C. Killian Bio. (Eastern District of Tennessee) William C. Killian has been a sole practitioner at William C. Killian,...