The White House on Monday sent the Senate Laufman's nomination for inspector general at the Defense Department.

If confirmed, Laufman would replace Joseph E. Schmitz, who resigned last September to become chief operating officer for the Prince Group, a division of Blackwater USA, which provides security services to troops in Iraq and around the globe.

The inspector general is the principal adviser to the secretary of defense for matters relating to the prevention of fraud, waste and abuse in the Defense Department.

Laufman, who received a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from Georgetown University, is assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Before that, he was chief of staff for the office of the deputy attorney general at the Justice Department. Earlier in his career, he was investigative counsel for the House Ethics Committee.

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