Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indiana’s two nominees for U.S. attorney were among a group of almost 100 federal executive nominees confirmed Thursday night by Senate Republicans, the third time the Trump Administration has advanced nominations “en bloc.”
Tom Wheeler and Adam Mildred were confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the U.S. Attorney posts in Indiana’s Southern and Northern Districts, respectively.
The Senate voted 53-43, with four senators not voting, to confirm the large group of nominations.
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond School of Law professor, said President Donald Trump has been frustrated and trying to evade the Senate’s advise and consent process by advancing nominees en bloc as opposed to individually.
Tobias noted that the president is not using en bloc for federal judges nominees, who serve lifetime terms on the bench.
In addition to the 97 executive nominees who were confirmed Thursday, there were groups of 47 nominees confirmed en bloc in September and 107 in October.
Tobias said the en bloc vote could shield some nominees who might face questioning about their qualifications for their positions.
He stressed that he didn’t think that Wheeler or Mildred, who both were confirmed for four-year terms as U.S. attorneys, would have faces those sorts of questions.
The law professor said most of the U.S. attorney nominees he’s seen so far had solid experience as assistant U.S. attorneys or served decades as local prosecutors.
“I haven’t detected that they are particularly political,” Tobias said.
Both Wheeler and Mildred advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee this fall on 12-10 votes, with Wheeler moving forward Oct. 9 and Mildred on Oct. 16.
Mildred has served as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Allen County and was formerly the chief deputy prosecutor in Noble County.
He is a veteran Indiana prosecutor and has prosecuted more than 200 cases, including trials involving homicide, robbery, drug trafficking, and federal firearms offenses. Mildred holds a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University and a J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
Wheeler has served as interim U.S. attorney since June. He served as acting general counsel at the Department of Education and has also held federal roles as acting assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice, senior adviser to the White House School Safety Commission and counsel to the Secretary of Education.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.