Miami judge becomes first confirmed U.S. attorney during Trump's second term

Miami Herald

3 days ago

President Donald Trump's first confirmed nominee for U.S. Attorney is a Miami-Dade judge whose professional background includes poor job evaluations in the office he will now lead.
On Saturday, Judge Jason A. Reding Quiñones secured a 49-44 cloture vote in the U.S. Senate. He will now head the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Florida, replacing interim U.S. Attorney Hayden O'Byrne.
READ MORE: Trump picks U.S. attorney in Miami. As criminal prosecutor, he received poor evaluations
Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, 'Very proud of our great Republican Senators for fighting, over the Weekend and far beyond, if necessary, in order to get my great Appointments approved, and on their way to helping us MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'
The Miami Herald could not reach Reding Quiñones for comment.
Reding Quiñones, formerly a federal prosecutor in the Miami office, was appointed as a Miami-Dade County judge a year ago by Gov. Ron DeSantis and is a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
After graduating from Florida International University's law school in 2008, he began his career practicing corporate law before transitioning to a military lawyer for the U.S. Air Force and then joining the Justice Department.
Soon after, he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami as a prosecutor in the major crimes section, where he would receive poor evaluations from supervisors relating to incompetence; however, Reding Quiñones filed a discrimination complaint claiming he was being targeted because of his race.
He would later drop that complaint and continue on in the Miami office's civil division, where he recieved satisfactory job evaluations.
Despite this history, University of Richmond Law Professor Carl Tobias said it likely wouldn't have a big impact on his confirmation by the Senate.
The Senate Judiciary Committe process for evaluating U.S Attorney nominees is 'not very rigorous,' Tobias said.
That's because, he said, the panel doesn't have the resources to conduct hearings and instead relies on staff analysis and recommendations.
'Practically all nominees receive no discussion and voice votes, unless staff detects red flags,' he said.
Tobias believes confirmations have grown increasingly politicized, but in a rare occurrence, Reding Quiñones received a 12-9 committee party line vote before the process continued to the Senate where he would be confirmed.
The confirmation is not only a victory for the president, but also a much-needed move for the Miami office, which has remained one of the busiest in the country despite growing struggles.
Since the resignation of former U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe, the first Black lawyer to hold the position in South Florida, earlier this year, the office has lost a half a dozen senior career prosecutors.
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'The [South Florida office] does critical law enforcement work and its several hundred attorneys function more smoothly when the office has a permanent, Senate-confirmed leader, who cooperates effectively with the Justice Department and other US Attorneys,' Tobias said.
While the U.S. Attorney position may now be filled, other seats in South Florida and the rest of the state have not made it through Senate confirmation hearings yet.
The Senate failed to confirm one Trump federal judge nominee who would preside in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and three nominees for the Middle District.
Tobias noted that these are emergency vacancies, as both districts have substantial caseloads that are reaching or already surpassing protracted lengths without resolution.
The Senate is now in recess, which means any appointments will have to wait until September when it resumes session.
'The diligent, overloaded Southern and Middle District judges and the people of Florida must wait for relief,' Tobias said.