Before adjourning for the year, the U.S. Senate failed to confirm James Cole, the Obama administration’s nominee to be Deputy Attorney General. The Senate did confirm two other Justice Department officials, Michele Leonhart as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Stacia Hyltonas head of the U.S. Marshals Service. The failure to confirm Cole means that Attorney General Eric Holder will not have a permanent deputy in place, indefinitely. Gary Grindler has been serving in that job in an acting capacity.
Leonhart has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience. She is the first female DEA agent to rise through the ranks of the agency to become administrator, and only the second woman to lead the agency. She has been Acting Administrator since 2007. Hylton is returning to the Marshals Service after operating her own consulting company, Hylton Kirk & Associates. She previously served in federal law enforcement for 29 years, as Federal Detention Trustee from 2004-2010 and in several leadership positions in the Marshals Service from 1980-2004, including Acting Deputy Director, Assistant Director of Prisoner Operations, Chief Deputy in the District of South Carolina and Chief of Judicial Security Programs.