President Donald Trump has made his pick to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi – current state Homeland Security Executive Director Baxter Kruger.
Kruger was nominated by Trump to take over the position after U.S. Attorney Todd Gee resigned from his post in January as Democratic President Joe Biden left office.
Mississippi’s Office for Homeland Security operates under the umbrella of the Department of Public Safety. DPS Commissioner Sean Tindell had high praise for his colleague on Tuesday after word of the appointment came in.
‘Thank you for your outstanding leadership at the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security and for your dedicated service to our state,” Tindell wrote in a social media post. “Your hard work and commitment have not gone unnoticed, and this nomination is a testament to that! When you work hard, good things happen and you continue moving up!”
In addition to overseeing the Office of Homeland Security, which Kruger was appointed to lead in November 2021, the Jackson native also serves as the chair of the Mississippi Cybersecurity Review Board and the Mississippi Wireless Commission.
Kruger previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi’s Criminal Division. He graduated from Mississippi College School of Law in 2015, also spending time at the National Advocacy Center and the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School.
Before he would take over as the top federal attorney for the Southern District, Kruger must pass through the Senate confirmation process. If confirmed, he would begin a term of four years or at the discretion of the president.
