Mitch McConnell

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. John Yarmuth are at odds over who should be Kentucky's next U.S. attorney.

The Louisville Bar Association named him judge of the year in 1997. "I have told that to the White House." "This is an important position, regardless of your politics," he said. He was appointed, then elected to the Court of Appeals in 2006. The White House under Biden has said it was looking for nominees for judgeships, U.S. attorneys and marshals who " reflect the best of America and look like America.” He served again in the commonwealth’s attorney’s office as a division chief before being elected to the circuit bench in 1991 and re-elected without opposition in 1999. Former U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman, who is seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general, blamed the Biden Administration's "lack of focus" for the failure to make U.S. attorney appointments. "However, the lack of a presidentially-appointed U.S. attorney is disturbing given Louisville’s challenges with violent crime and Kentucky drowning in overdose-causing drugs, all coming from over our Southwest border." But experts say a U.S. attorney appointed by the president is better situated to launch long-term initiatives and partnerships with other agencies and to pursue complex prosecutions that can take years to complete. Why can't McConnell and Yarmuth come together and agree on a pair of acceptable nominees, for the good of the commonwealth and its residents? Nominees usually are recommended to the White House by a state’s senior senator of the president’s party. Nearly 1½ years into President Joe Biden’s administration, neither the Eastern nor Western District of Kentucky has a U.S. attorney appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.