Biden nominates US attorney for Florida Mar-a-Lago district

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has nominated a Miami litigator and longtime government lawyer to serve as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the office currently involved in the Justice Department's investigation of classified records at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

Markenzy Lapointe would replace Juan Antonio “Tony” Gonzalez, who has been a top prosecutor in Southern Florida involved in the investigation of the classified records and the debate over whether a judge should appoint a special master to review the documents taken by FBI in the search.

It was unclear why the Biden administration chose to announce the nomination for the position now, as the government's case winds its way through the court system. Gonzalez, who had previously served as a senior prosecutor in the office, had been appointed to the position by Attorney General Merrick Garland. He was never formally nominated for the position.

Gonzalez has served as a federal prosecutor in southern Florida since 1998 and served as the first assistant U.S. attorney and the acting U.S. attorney. He succeeded Ariana Fajardo Orshan, who had been nominated by Trump.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-nominates-us-attorney-florida-185918052.html

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Unless the Senate manages to do some marathon confirmation hearings for the nominee

and then manages to schedule a vote on the nominee, then that nomination will end up having to start over and resubmit after the 118th Congress is in session starting January 3, 2023.

[getagrip_already]

2. wasn't barret confirmed in december?

It can be done. unless we allow filibusters that is.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. There is no more "60 vote" cloture for nominees

but if any nominations being considered for hearings and a "quick" vote in the remaining time left of this session, I expect that will result in a primary focus on Judicial ones (and we need to get as many of those in as we can)!

I.e., just this week -

September 14, 2022
4:14 PM EDT
Last Updated 2 days ago

U.S. Senate vote gives Biden record for most public defenders on appeals courts

By Nate Raymond


(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a Rhode Island public defender for a seat on a federal appeals court, handing President Joe Biden the record for placing the most nominees with that kind of experience onto the circuit courts. Lara Montecalvo, who leads the Rhode Island Public Defender's Office, was cleared to join the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a 52-47 vote, a day after the Senate failed to confirm another public defender up for a appellate court seat.

Montecalvo's confirmation comes as Senate Democrats speed up the process of voting on Biden's judicial nominees ahead of the November midterm elections, when they risk losing their narrow control of the chamber to Republicans. The Senate now has confirmed 81 judicial candidates put forward by Biden, who has prioritized diversifying the federal bench. Of Biden's 22 confirmed circuit court nominees, 15 have been women and 16 have been people of color, Democrats say.

(snip)

But her nomination ultimately garnered three Republican votes and proved less contentious than that of Arianna Freeman, another public defender Biden nominated to the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate failed on Tuesday to confirm Freeman with a vote of 47-50, with two Democrats absent and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer changing his vote to no as procedural move that will allow the body to reconsider her nomination later.

The Senate on Thursday is expected to vote to confirm another onetime public defender to a circuit court position, U.S. District Judge Sarah Merriam, who would join the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-senate-vote-gives-biden-record-most-public-defenders-appeals-courts-2022-09-14/

[Karma13612]

3. Thanks for the link to the article.

I read it and found this nugget. Maybe we won’t have to worry as much about getting them confirmed? Sounds like there is support from both sides.

U.S. attorney picks must be confirmed by the Senate, and home-state senators usually have significant input on the nominees. Both Florida candidates were recommended by a bipartisan commission led by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who praised Biden's choices.