Tom Perez (Shattered)

Thomas Edward Perez (born October 7, 1961) is a consumer advocate, civil rights lawyer, and Dominican American Democratic Party politician who has served as the since 2017. Perez was the from 2013 to 2017. Prior to that he served as the of the.

Born in, Perez is a graduate of , and the. He worked as a law clerk for the before serving in the Department of Justice from 1989 to 1995, where he worked as a federal prosecutor, and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under Attorney General. He worked as a Special Counselor for Senator until 1998 when he served as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the  in the final years of the Clinton administration.

Perez was then elected to the Montgomery County (Maryland) Council in 2002, serving as the council's president from 2005, until the end of his tenure in 2006. He attempted to run for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General of Maryland, but was disqualified for not having 10 years of legal experience in Maryland (he was admitted to the Maryland bar in 2001). Perez was appointed by Maryland Governor to serve as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation in January 2007, until his October 2009 confirmation by the  as Assistant Attorney General. In March 2013, Perez was nominated by President to be the, replacing outgoing Secretary. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 18 and sworn in on July 23, 2013.

In December of 2016, President-elect announced that she would nominate Perez for, and was confirmed by the  on January 21, 2017.