March 28, 2025

Duckworth, Durbin Statement on Andrew Boutros Being Named Interim U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee,  today released the following statement on Andrew Boutros being named the Interim U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois:

“The White House has assured our offices that there will be no nomination for the permanent role of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois until the White House Counsel’s Office has consulted with both of our offices.”

During the Biden administration, the position of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois remained unfilled due to then-Senator J.D. Vance’s (R-OH) hold on U.S. Attorney nominees, including April Perry, who was nominated by then-President Biden to be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. U.S. Attorneys are empowered to prosecute all federal criminal offenses and are an integral part of our justice system. Despite these nominees’ eminent qualifications, then-Senator Vance continuously objected to Durbin’s unanimous consent requests to confirm these nominees.

For decades, the Senate has confirmed U.S. Attorneys by voice vote or unanimous consent after they have been considered in the Judiciary Committee. Before the 117th Congress, the last time the Senate required a roll call vote on the confirmation of a U.S. Attorney nominee was in 1975. 

That precedent changed during the Biden administration when Durbin went through this exercise twice when a Republican colleague refused to allow the Senate to confirm nearly a dozen Justice Department nominees by voice vote—the typical practice. Following a unanimous consent request, that Senator eventually lifted his objections and allowed those nominees to be confirmed.

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