Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Dawn Johnsen Nomination
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved by a vote of 12-7 Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to head the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC).
The OLC is a critical agency that advises the executive branch on the constitutionality of proposed policies, legislation, and executive orders. Johnsen is well qualified for this position, having served in the OLC as a deputy assistant attorney general from 1993 to 1996 and as the acting assistant attorney general from 1997 to 1998. She is currently a professor of constitutional law at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University.
President Obama first nominated Johnsen in February 2009. The committee approved her nomination last March, but then it was stalled for 10 months due to obstructionist tactics in the Senate before being sent back to Obama.