U.S. Senate confirms Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly confirmed President Joe Biden's nominee, Lisa Monaco, as deputy attorney general, the No. 2 position at the Justice Department.

Monaco, approved by a vote of 98-2, will oversee a vast portfolio encompassing criminal and national security investigations, as well as all U.S. Attorney's Offices across 94 districts.

The deputy attorney general position is also instrumental in developing criminal justice policies, from sentencing to clemency.

One of the most pressing tasks Monaco will face on being sworn in will be helping to supervise the sprawling probe into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

More than 410 defendants are facing a range of charges for their role in the riot, from minor trespassing to serious offenses such as assaulting police, obstructing Congress and conspiring to storm the Capitol.

Another major issue that Monaco will be contending with is the fallout from an alleged Russian-led hacking campaign that targeted software made by SolarWinds Corp, compromising government offices including the U.S. Treasury, Justice and Commerce departments.

Most recently, Monaco, 53, worked with the law firm O’Melveny & Myers.

Before that, she served a variety of roles in the Justice Department and White House.

She was a prosecutor who served on the government’s multi-agency task force that focused on wrongdoing by Enron Corp after the energy company's 2001 collapse.

Monaco later worked at the FBI advising its former director Robert Mueller and served as assistant attorney general in the National Security Division from 2011 to 2013 under President Barack Obama.

She also worked as Obama’s homeland security and counterterrorism adviser.

"She is one of the nation's foremost national security experts," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said on the Senate floor, adding her experience "has prepared her to oversee DOJ's operations at this critical moment in history."

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Karishma Singh and Peter Cooney)

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