A report from POLITICO released on Thursday provided an in-depth analysis of possible contenders for the position of acting U.S. Attorney General should President Donald Trump win a second term. The title of acting AG is given during the beginning of a presidential administration when the permanent AG candidate is still going through the Senate confirmation process.
The news source named a number of potential federal officials that could be appointed to the position. One possibility of particular note was U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Prim Escalona.
“Attorney General Bill Barr tapped Escalona to fill a vacancy there in July 2020,” the report reads. “She has a stalwart GOP resume, including stints in Justice’s Office of Legislative Affairs and Office of Legal Policy and as a law clerk to prominent conservative appeals court judge William Pryor Jr.”
POLITICO noted that Escalona was seemingly supportive of the majority perspective in Alabama to remove non-citizen voters from its voter rolls, which was challenged by the DOJ.
“Escalona also has demonstrated an independent streak at times: Her signature is absent from a suit the Justice Department filed last month challenging Alabama’s voter purge policies.”
The Senate confirmation process for Cabinet nominees is typically not a short affair. After Trump took office in January of 2017, the Senate waited 19 days to confirm Alabamian Jeff Sessions as attorney general. Biden’s AG, Merrick Garland, was not confirmed until March 10, 2021.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
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