The lack of oversight raises the specter of politicized U.S. attorney’s offices doing the White House’s bidding.
Around the country, President Donald Trump is circumventing the Senate to install top federal prosecutors, using loopholes to keep loyalists in place.
In U.S. attorney’s offices in Los Angeles, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and upstate New York, the administration has effectively sidestepped or overridden both the Senate confirmation and judicial appointment processes for selecting U.S. attorneys.
When Trump’s nominees can’t get confirmed by the Senate, as required by federal law, the administration installs them on a temporary basis as “interim” U.S. attorneys, who are legally allowed to serve for 120 days.
And when district judges have then rejected Trump’s choices by exercising a 160-year-old power allowing them to appoint someone to the office after an interim U.S. attorney’s term ends, the administration has in a few cases taken an extraordinary step: voiding the judges’ decision and reinstalling Trump’s desired prosecutor as an “acting” U.S. attorney, who can serve for an additional 210 days beyond the initial 120-day interim period.
In two instances, the Trump administration preempted the judges’ votes, appointing the interim U.S. attorneys as acting U.S. attorneys before the judges could have their say. And in at least one district, the administration’s attempt to sidestep the Senate and district judges is being challenged in court.