Obama Nominates Hughes, Norton’s Recommendation for U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court for the District of Columbia

September 23, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) yesterday spoke with Michael Hughes to inform him that President Obama would be nominating him for U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. Hughes, whom Norton recommended to the President, is currently Chief of the Office of Crisis Services in the Tactical Operations Division of the U.S. Marshals Service, where he directs the Critical Incident Response Team and Employee Assistance Program.

"Michael Hughes' unusually broad experience in his twenty-year career with the Marshals has prepared him very well to lead the troubled Superior Court division, an office in need of the strong, yet patient, experienced and problem-solving leadership that he will bring," said Norton. "Mr. Hughes has the combination of field and management experience and the calm and diplomatic temperament needed to improve recruitment and retention in the office."

Hughes has worked on several multi-agency taskforces and has met with key local law enforcement officials, including Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier. He has lived in the District of Columbia for more than ten years and is well-suited to meet the needs of his home town. He is committed to recruiting more D.C. and regional residents and others who desire to live in this region to the Superior Court office in order to increase retention and to improve service to the local community.

Hughes has spent his entire career in the Marshals, joining as a Deputy U.S. Marshal immediately following college. He has held a number of positions in the field and at national headquarters. In the last ten years, he has served, among other posts, as Supervisory Inspector, Investigative Services Division, Protective Operations Program, U.S. Deputy Attorney General's Protection Detail; Acting Chief of Field Operations, Investigative Services Division, Witness Security Program; Senior Inspector/Legislative Affairs Specialist, Executive Services Division, Office of Congressional Affairs; Chief Inspector, Investigative Services Division; and Chief, Human Resources Division, Office of Operational Staffing and Recruitment.

President Obama, like President Clinton, granted the Congresswoman senatorial courtesy to recommend federal district court judges and other important federal law enforcement officials in the District. She recommended Hughes from a number of candidates screened by her Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission, chaired by Pauline Schneider, a former chair of the D.C. Bar and a partner at the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

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