8 US attorney picks by Biden would include historic firsts

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is nominating eight new leaders for U.S. attorney positions, including in the office overseeing the prosecutions of defendants in the Capitol insurrection.

If confirmed, Biden’s nominees would run offices in the District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Washington state.

Most would be historic firsts, including the first Black or female attorneys to lead their districts.

The nominees announced Monday come as the Justice Department continues to round out its leadership team under Attorney General Merrick Garland, who recently visited Chicago to announce an initiative cracking down on violent crime and gun trafficking.

The Justice Department’s 93 U.S. attorneys are likely to be central to that effort.