April Perry's bid to be Chicago's first female top federal prosecutor to end, J.D Vance Blocked the appointment [View all]

President Joe Biden intends to end his bid to make April Perry the first woman to serve as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor by instead turning to a priority of his and nominating her for a lifetime role as a district court judge, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The White House on Wednesday will officially announce Biden’s intention to nominate Perry to be a U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Illinois. When Biden makes his nomination, he will have to withdraw his previous nomination of Perry to be U.S. attorney here. For months, the effort to confirm Perry was stalled by Sen. J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio who said he was blocking her confirmation to protest the federal prosecution of Donald Trump.

That means the search must begin all over again for a successor to former Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch, who left office in March 2023. Given the upcoming presidential election in November — and that U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president — a new nominee for one of Illinois’ most powerful posts might not be named until 2025 by the election’s winner.

That could lead to one of the longest vacancies in the history of the office.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2024/04/23/april-perry-us-attorney-stalled-bid-jd-vance-joe-biden