U.S. attorney general for the District of Columbia, Jessie Liu. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Jessie Liu, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who President Trump recently tapped to serve as the the Justice Department's third-ranking official, has withdrawn her name from consideration, instead planning to serve as chairwoman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, the agency said Thursday in a statement.
Details: The department did not specify why Liu decided not to pursue the opportunity. However, the Washington Post reports that she ran into opposition from Senate Republicans who were infuriated over past involvement with a pro-abortion legal group that opposed the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Liu, who previously worked at the DOJ during George W. Bush's administration, would have overseen the agency's civil litigation, including antitrust and civil rights matters.