The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Mike Dunavant as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee on Tuesday.
Dunavant was among more than 100 nominees confirmed by the Senate in an en bloc vote, with the chamber approving the group by a 51–47 margin.
President Donald Trump nominated Dunavant to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee in June. Dunavant later testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and the committee voted to report his nomination favorably.
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who serves on the judiciary committee, applauded Dunavant’s confirmation vote Tuesday.
“Mike is an experienced prosecutor who will hold criminals accountable, restore law and order, and work around the clock to make Memphis and all of West Tennessee a safer place to live. We need Mike’s leadership in the Western District, and I am so pleased that the Senate has confirmed him to serve again as U.S. Attorney,” Blackburn said.
“President Trump has already taken significant action to Make Memphis Safe Again, and with Mike’s confirmation, we are one step closer to doing just that. It was an honor to recommend Mike Dunavant to President Trump to serve again, and I am confident he will make Tennesseans proud as he assumes this important role,” she added.
U.S. Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08), whose district includes parts of Shelby County, also applauded Dunavant’s confirmation.
“Mike has unmatched expertise in law enforcement serving our region. I know that he will continue to make public safety his top priority as West Tennessee’s chief federal law enforcement officer,” Kustoff said.
Dunavant’s confirmation was also cheered by State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), who recently traveled to D.C. and testified before the judiciary committee in support of his “Make Memphis Matter” initiative, which he said would benefit from Dunavant serving as the U.S. Attorney for the area.
“It’s crucial to have a tough-on-crime federal prosecutor back in the role, especially one who can step up and prosecute the serious cases that our Soros-backed DA refuses to touch. Let’s get aggressive prosecutions back in West TN so my efforts to [Make Memphis Matter] are not in vain,” Taylor said.
Dunavant served as the chief federal prosecutor for West Tennessee during the first term of the Trump administration, from 2017 to 2021.
Before he was appointed U.S. Attorney during Trump’s first term, Dunavant was the elected district attorney general for the 25th Judicial District of Tennessee from 2006 to 2017.
Dunavant has also served as the deputy executive director of Legal Services & Policy, leading the Legislative, Legal Services, Training, and Child Support divisions of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference.
He also previously served as chief investigative counsel for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Division of Investigations.
Dunavant received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and his law degree from the University of Mississippi at Oxford.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
