Joe Biden announces first lineup of nominations for US attorneys

US President Joe Biden is filling out more posts in his administration with nominations for diplomatic posts and agency head posts. This week, the White House released the lineup of Biden’s nominations for the US attorney posts under the Justice Department.

The White House released the slate of nominations by Biden for US attorney positions in the country. The nominations include for posts in the office that oversees the prosecutions of the hundreds of defendants charged with their involvement in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The nominations also come as the DOJ looks to fill out its leadership under Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Matthew Graves, Rachel Rollins, Erek Barron, Zachary Myers, Clifford Johnson, Vanessa Waldref, Trini Ross, and Nicholas Brown were announced as Biden’s picks for US attorney positions. Rollins, Barron, Myers, and Johnson would become the first Black US attorneys for the states of Massachusetts, Maryland, and Indiana, respectively. Waldref, if confirmed, would become the first female US attorney in the Eastern District of Washington state and Brown as the first Black US attorney in the state’s Western District.

Should they be confirmed by the Senate, the nominees would become the US attorneys for the District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington state. Several of the nominations also make history firsts like Black or female attorneys for the state, according to the Biden administration. This is the first lineup of US attorney nominees that are announced by the White House.

Last week, the White House said that it would release its nomination for the antitrust division. However, it withdrew its nomination for civil division chief, and no nomination has been made so far for solicitor general.

In other news, the Biden administration is still looking to further its message in encouraging Americans who have yet to be vaccinated to do so, as the rising cases and deaths in the country have come from those who have not. In his remarks Monday celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Biden said that long-term COVID-19 cases or symptoms could qualify as a disability.

“We’re bringing agencies together to make sure Americans with long COVID who have a disability have access to the rights and resources that are due under the disability law, which includes accommodations and services in the workplace and school, and our health care system so they can live their lives in dignity,” said Biden.