US Attorney Pick Stalled by Vance Advances as Judicial Nominee

April Perry’s nomination to a US district court seat advanced in the Senate Judiciary Committee after her selection to become the first female federal chief prosecutor for Chicago previously was derailed by Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

Perry gained bipartisan committee support, 13-8, on Thursday in her bid for a judgeship on the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Currently the Republican vice presidential candidate, Vance blocked Perry’s nomination as US attorney in Chicago. He pledged in 2023 to place holds on President Joe Biden’s Justice Department nominees to protest what he called the politically-motivated prosecution of Donald Trump.

This year he’s joined a coalition of Republicans to threaten delays on 13 district court, three court of appeals, and six US attorney nominees, to protest Trump’s guilty verdict on 34 felony counts in New York state court.

Perry’s previous nomination advanced out of the Judiciary Committee on largely party lines before it stalled. She was picked for the judgeship in April.

The former line prosecutor in the Chicago US attorney’s office has been GE Healthcare’s senior counsel of Global Investigations and Fraud and Abuse Prevention since 2022. She was previously the general counsel at Ubiety Technologies.

She would’ve filled a vacancy that opened in 2023 when Trump-era holdover John Lausch stepped down.

Wisconsin Nominee

The Judiciary Committee also approved Byron Conway, 13-8, for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, after William Pocan’s nomination to the court stalled.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) retracted his support for Pocan after previously sending his name for consideration to the White House. Johnson said at the time that the Green Bay legal community wanted a nominee who was “locally based and actively involved in their community.”

District court nominees require home-state senator support to advance, and the White House didn’t resubmit his nomination the following year.

Also Thursday, Jonathan Hawley for the Central District of Illinois and Gail Weilheimer for the Philadelphia-based Eastern District of Pennsylvania advanced out of committee.

The panel held over Ryan Park’s nomination to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at the request of North Carolina Republican and committee member Thom Tillis, who was absent for familial reasons.

Tillis has criticized the White House for its outright rejection of his suggestions for the appellate vacancy in his state. The White House announced the nomination of Park, the state’s solicitor general, in July, over Tillis’ objections.

Circuit nominations, unlike those for US trial court seats, don’t require support from both home-state senators. Tillis said during Park’s confirmation hearing that he’d secured enough votes to block the nomination on the Senate floor. Democrats narrowly control the chamber.