CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced the nominations of two West Virginians for U.S. Attorney positions.
President Joe Biden nominated state Sen. William Ihlenfeld, D-Ohio, for the prosecutor position with the Northern District of West Virginia and William Thompson for a similar role in the Southern District of West Virginia. The committee on Thursday approved the nominations, which will next go before the full Senate.
Ihlenfeld served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District from 2010 to 2016. His experience also includes serving as a prosecutor in Brooke County and prosecuting domestic violence cases in Ohio County. Ihlenfeld was elected to the state Senate in 2018.
Thompson was appointed in 2007 to the 25th Judicial Circuit, which includes Boone and Lincoln counties. He was re-elected in 2008 and 2016, and launched the first family treatment court in the state.
The committee also considered the nomination of Dr. Rahul Gupta as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Gupta served as health officer and executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department from March 2009 to December 2014, and became state health officer in January 2015. He left the position in November 2018 to join March of Dimes.
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told reporters on Thursday the committee held voting on Gupta for a week because of “the nature of his nomination.” She expects the committee will advance the nomination during its Oct. 7 meeting.