President Donald Trump’s pick is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, where his practice focuses on corporate investigations and other complex litigation matters. Now Lausch would take on a pivotal leadership role in law enforcement if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago is one of the busiest in the nation, handling everything from terrorism, gang conspiracies and bank robberies to financial fraud and political corruption.
The office is a familiar one for Lausch.
He was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois from 1999 to 2010.
Lausch started out working large-scale gang and drug cases and eventually earned a supervisory position under then-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.
He was a deputy chief in the Narcotics and Gangs Section for several years, according to a White House announcement. He also helped lead the district’s anti-gang and Project Safe Neighborhoods programs.
The next step is for Trump to formally send Lausch’s nomination to the Senate, which must confirm him for the job. With the Senate on recess until after Labor Day, the nomination isn’t likely to be taken up in earnest anytime soon. First he’ll answer detailed questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which eventually will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination.
Assuming the committee signs off, the nomination goes to the full Senate for an up-or-down vote.
If confirmed, Lausch will succeed Zachary Fardon, who stepped down from the $169,000-per-year post in March after Trump asked for the resignations of all Obama-era U.S. attorney holdovers. Since then, Trump has nominated a smattering of replacements across the country.
Born and raised in the Joliet area, Lausch was captain of the 1987 state champion Joliet Catholic football team and went on to play linebacker at Harvard University, where he also was the team captain. He lives in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood with his wife and three children.
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