Former US attorneys took note as the White House announced the sixth wave of nominees on Friday, a group containing two Andrews and zero women. In a conversation with Buzzfeed, one former US attorney, a woman, called the list a “slap in the face.”
“US attorneys often become judges, partners in big law firms, even senators, and restricting women from advancing by excluding them from the US attorney positions is really a giant step backwards,” former Alabama US attorney Joyce Vance, a 2009 Obama nominee, explained to Buzzfeed. “It’s a statement that this is not a priority.”
That the administration is practically going out of its way to avoid promoting women also signals to senators, whose support influences the nominees’ senate confirmation processes, that they don’t need to consider people who aren’t straight, white, and male.
Jessie Liu is Trump’s only female nominee thus far, representing Washington DC. For reference, 12 of Obama’s first 42 nominees were women, which is not great, but seems like a progressive utopian fantasy by comparison. Then again, US attorneys under Trump have been charged with the responsibility to “Make America Safe Again,” a job that only white men can do.
