Published on: Wednesday, April 21, 2021

The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Vanita Gupta to serve as associate attorney general, elevating a longtime civil rights attorney to the third-highest position inside the Justice Department (article available here).

Gupta, 46, will become the first woman of color in Justice Department history to serve as associate attorney general — a role in which she will oversee the department's civil rights litigation, as well as its antitrust, civil and environment divisions.

She was head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division during the Obama administration and most recently president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Following Tuesday's guilty verdict against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday announced an investigation into possible patterns of discrimination and excessive force by the city's police force.

The Senate acted on Gupta’s nomination one day after confirming Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general.