Hearings to examine the nominations of Daniel E. Burrows, of Colorado, to be an Assistant Attorney General, Megan Blair Benton, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri, Brian Charles Lea, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee, and Justin R. Olson, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana.
2025-12-17
Source: Congress.gov
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And I know I speak for the committee as well as the country when I say we're very grateful for their service and sacrifice. And we remember them and their families in prayer today as we prepare to honor their long service to this nation. On a happier note, today we will welcome a highly decorated panel of four nominees, three judicial nominees, and an assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice. More about them shortly. This is our final nominations hearing of 2025. And I just want to point out as we start that the committee has advanced 84 excellent nominees to the Senate floor this year. Thanks to my colleagues for that. And thank you, of course, to President Trump for choosing thoughtful, hardworking and dedicated public servants as judges, federal prosecutors and senior public officials. Here's going to be our run of show today. I'm going to in the remainder of my opening remarks here, I'm going to introduce our one of the nominees, a proud Missourian, eighth generation Missourian, Judge Megan Benton, who's with us.
So without further ado, let me introduce an eighth generation Missourian and a leading attorney in our state's bar, Judge Megan Benton. Judge Benton is a Jefferson City native who grew up in mid-Missouri. She earned her undergraduate and master's degrees at Emory University before enrolling and graduating from Vanderbilt Law School. After Vandy, she began her career by clerking for a trial court judge, and then she settled into private practice in Kansas City. Before too long, however, she responded to the call for public service, and she has been serving and protecting the state of Missouri since 2014, when she became a prosecutor in Platt County, which is one of Missouri's fastest growing counties. And for those of you who don't know the state, just A little bit north of Kansas City. While she was a prosecutor, Megan handled some of the most serious criminal offenses in our justice system. Capital offenses, crimes against children, violent felonies, drug offenses, and domestic violence offenses. In an era of plea bargains, settlements, and very rare trials, she never shirked away from a jury. In fact, she has tried 50 cases to verdict. 50. serving as sole counsel in approximately 35 of those cases. She was appointed to the bench in 2021 and now serves as our state's highest level trial court judge. She presides over criminal and complex civil cases that have given her the experience and temperament to manage the federal docket. Just on the criminal side of her docket, she's presided over approximately 250 sentencings. Her wisdom, her prudence, her discernment, and the most challenging part of her job have won widespread admiration. And I can tell you, if you talk to plaintiffs and defendants, prosecutors in the state, they will all rave about Judge Benton's professionalism, her work ethic, her courtroom management, and docket management. And maybe most importantly to the people who know her, she's wholeheartedly committed to her community and her family. She and her husband, Paul, are raising two wonderful sons, Nolan, who's eight years old, and Pearson, who's five. It's a very busy household, I imagine. I'm excited for Megan and her family to have the opportunity to continue to serve the people of our state in this new capacity.
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