WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden intends to nominate April Perry to be the next Chicago-based U.S. attorney and, if confirmed, she will be the first woman to have that job.
The White House announced Biden’s intention to nominate Perry shortly before the president delivered his Bidenomics speech at the Old Post Office and then headed to a Loop hotel for fundraising to bolster his re-election bid.
Remaking the federal judiciary and the federal prosecutor ranks so the people tapped for the spots reflect the diversity of the nation has been a priority for Biden and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Perry is currently the senior counsel of global investigations and fraud and abuse preventio, at GE HealthCare. Perry also was the chief deputy state’s attorney and chief ethics officer at the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
“We are pleased that President Biden is nominating April Perry to serve as the next U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois,” Durbin and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said in a statement.
They added, “She was highly regarded by our screening committee and brings strong qualifications and a wealth of experience from her time in the U.S. attorney’s office and in the private sector to the position. We look forward to supporting her nomination in the Senate.”
In March, Durbin and Duckworth sent the Biden White House the names of Perry and another former federal prosecutor, Sergio Acosta.
Either pick would have been historic: Perry, the first female for the job, and Acosta, the first time a Hispanic was nominated for the post.
The new U.S. attorney will replace John Lausch, who resigned March 11, announcing his intention to leave months in advance and giving the senators time to set in place a process to replace him.
Durbin and Duckworth announced on Jan. 19 that those interested in the job should submit an application for evaluation by a screening committee they formed to help vet the qualifications and fitness of contenders.
Until a nominee is confirmed by the Senate, Morris Pasqual will continue to serve as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
Perry’s bio from the White House:
April Perry is Senior Counsel, Global Investigations and Fraud and Abuse Prevention, at GE HealthCare. Prior to GE HealthCare, Ms. Perry was the General Counsel for Ubiety Technologies from 2019 to 2022. From 2017 to 2019, Ms. Perry served as the Chief Deputy State’s Attorney and Chief Ethics Officer for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Ms. Perry previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois from 2004 to 2016.
She held numerous leadership positions in that office, including as Supervisory Litigation Counsel from 2011 to 2016, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator from 2010 to 2016, Civil Rights and Hate Crimes Coordinator from 2014 to 2016, and as a Deputy Chief in Narcotics and Gangs from 2010 to 2011. Ms. Perry served as a law clerk for Judge Joel M. Flaum on U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 2003 to 2004. She received her J.D., magna cum laude, in 2003 and her B.S., magna cum laude, in 2000, both from Northwestern University.