BUFFALO, N.Y. — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is recommending the president appoint Trini Ross as the U.S. Attorney for New York's Western District.

Ross, who currently serves as director of the Office of Investigations for the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General, spent more than two decades as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District, and would become the first African American woman to hold the position.

"I would applaud his choice of Trini Ross. I just think that's the best you're going to ever get," defense attorney Cheryl Meyers-Buth said.

Meyers-Buth is among more than a dozen of the region's most prominent defense attorneys who co-signed a letter to Schumer in November calling for more diversity.

"For a long time, to the credit of those lawyers, there's been discussion that there should be more women and more racial minorities involved in high-profile positions within the federal court system," she said.

It is tradition for the president to heed the recommendation of a state's senior senator for federal prosecutor positions. Schumer's office said he convened a standing committee that interviewed dozens of qualified candidates for the Western, Eastern, and Southern Districts.

Meyers-Buth said while Ross's appointment will be historic, she is also more than deserving.

"She's not getting the job just because she's a woman or just because she's a person of color,” she said. ”She's getting the job because she's most qualified. She's won numerous awards from community groups, bar associations and other groups of her peers."

Ross, who got her bachelor's at SUNY Fredonia and her law degree from the University at Buffalo, is also seeing support from many state lawmakers. Assembly Minority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes sent a letter of recommendation to Schumer while members Sean Ryan and Monica Wallace, both attorneys, released statements applauding the choice.

"She's tough," Meyers-Buth said. "We've battled with her in court and she can be a fierce opponent but she has principled judgment and shows compassion where it's called for whether it be toward victims of crimes or sometimes defendants."

In a statement, Schumer noted Ross's deep roots in the community and broad support and said everything in her career has prepared and guided her to assume this leadership role.