Jesse Michael Panuccio (born November 1, 1980) is an American attorney and government official. He served as the acting

United States Associate Attorney General The associate attorney general of the United States is the third-highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice. The associate attorney general advises and assists the attorney general and the deputy attorney general in policies re ...

in 2017 and again from February 2018 to May 2019. He previously served as general counsel to Governor Rick Scott of Florida and as the executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.Toluse Olorunnipa
Free-market conservative leads Gov. Rick Scott's jobs agency
''Miami Herald'' (January 27, 2013).

Education

Panuccio received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from Duke University, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School ''magna cum laude'' in 2006.

Legal career

Panuccio is a member of the Florida and District of Columbia bars. Panuccio served as a law clerk to Judge

Michael W. McConnell Michael William McConnell (born May 18, 1955) is an American constitutional law scholar who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 2002 to 2009. Since 2009, McConnell has been a ...

of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Panuccio then practiced law with the Washington D.C.-based law firm Cooper & Kirk PLLC.

Florida government service

Panuccio joined the administration of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Rick Scott as deputy general counsel in January 2011 after a law school friend working on Scott's campaign suggested that Panuccio should join Scott's transition team. In 2012, Governor Scott appointed Panuccio general counsel to the governor. In those roles, Panuccio represented the governor and the state in several significant legal challenges, including challenges to drug testing of state employees and welfare recipients as well as a required state-worker pension contribution. He also advised the governor on judicial appointments and served as chief ethics officer for the Executive Office of the Governor. In January 2013, Scott appointed Panuccio executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.Michael Auslen & Jeremy Wallace
Jesse Panuccio, Gov. Rick Scott's jobs chief, resigns as agency head
''Tampa Bay Times''/''Miami Herald'' Tallahassee Bureau (December 4, 2015). At the time, Panuccio was 32 years old and was the youngest agency head in Florida government. During his tenure, Panuccio wrote an op-ed in the '' Miami Herald'' about the departments efforts to combat fraud in the unemployment insurance program, and an op-ed in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' opposing the U.S. Department of Labor's proposed changes to its overtime rules. In December 2015, Panuccio announced his resignation, effective January 8, 2016. On January 25, 2016, Governor Scott appointed Panuccio to the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission.

Department of Justice service

In January 2017, Panuccio was named acting Associate Attorney General of the United States. Panuccio's former boss and mentor, Chuck Cooper of Cooper & Kirk, was advising Senator

Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...

on staffing President-elect Donald Trump's transition team and recommended Panuccio for the position. The associate attorney general is the third highest-ranking official at the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

, and oversees virtually all non-criminal matters. After newly confirmed attorney general

William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as the 77th and 85th United States attorney general in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump. Born and raised in New York City, Barr ...

took office, he resigned from office and was succeeded by former

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

official Claire McCusker Murray.

References

External links

Office of the Associate Attorney General
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Panuccio, Jesse 1980 births Living people Florida Republicans Florida lawyers Harvard Law School alumni United States Associate Attorneys General Trump administration personnel Duke University alumni American people of Italian descent