New York, NY —

President Obama has nominated a new U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara. He's the current chief counsel to Senator Chuck Schumer. He also played an important role in the congressional investigation of the Bush administration's firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Bharara replaces Lev Dassin who's held an interim position since last December.

The Southern District post is the most high profile in the nation. It handles cases like Bernard Madoff's.

The president also nominated Paul Fishman as the new U.S. attorney for Newark, New Jersey.