Norton Congratulates Channing Phillips on Being Nominated by President Obama to Serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today phoned Channing D. Phillips, Senior Counselor to the U.S. Attorney General, to congratulate him on his nomination by President Obama to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. After considering highly qualified candidates and looking into the operations of the local U.S. Attorney's office, Norton recommended Phillips to President Obama as her top choice for the position. Since 2011, he has served as Senior Counselor and Deputy Assistant Associate General in the Office of the Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), where he has worked on oversight matters, including of the FBI and ATF. Norton said she believes that Phillips' long experience in management positions in both the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and at DOJ have built an exceptional reputation for leadership of the largest U.S. attorney's office in the nation.

Phillips is a 16-year veteran of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and served as Acting U.S. Attorney for the District from May 2009-Feburary 2010, and as Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District from 2004-2009, second in command only to the U.S. Attorney for the District. Phillips was first hired by then-U.S. Attorney for the District Eric Holder as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1994. Phillips steadily rose to management positions under both Democratic and Republican presidents. His management experience includes serving as Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney for the District for more than three years and Chief of Staff to the U.S. Attorney for the District for three years. In May 2010, U.S. Attorney General Holder brought Phillips to DOJ as the Deputy Associate Attorney General, where he led the Attorney General's Diversity Management Advisory Council.

Phillips, a native Washingtonian, is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Howard University School of Law.

"Channing Phillips is a first-rate lawyer who brings deeper experience in the Office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia than anyone who has held that office," Norton said. "When his experience with the U.S. Attorney for the District's office and his familiarity with its staff are combined with his DOJ experience, Channing Phillips is uniquely equipped with the broad experience necessary to lead a U.S. Attorney's office that has weighty local and national responsibilities."