Recently, the new administration fired the attorneys appointed by the previous president. While it’s standard practice, the coordination for a successorship plan has led to uncertainty within the White House.
In a Truth Social post, Trump stated, “Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before. Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys. We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY!”
There are 93 U.S. attorneys, each responsible for the federal prosecutions within their judicial district. On February 13, the Biden-appointed attorneys received an email citing, “At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as U.S. Attorney is terminated, effective immediately.” Prior to the email, more than two dozen Biden attorneys remained on the post. Some terminations included San Diego-based Tara McGrath, Maryland-based Erek Barron, Northern California-based Ismail Ramsey, Seattle-based Tessa Gorman, and Western North Carolina-based Dena King. Many attorneys confirmed their departures with office-wide emails and LinkedIn posts.
These dismissals came after the Justice Department (DOJ) gave all attorneys two business days to justify retaining the prosecutors hired in the previous two years who weren’t focused on Trump’s priorities like immigration, national security, and public safety. Potential hires who don’t fit into these priorities include those who specialize in white-collar, civil fraud, and civil rights investigations.
Since Cinton’s presidency, it has been standard practice to remove the previous administration’s attorneys. Biden had previously removed Trump’s attorneys in 2021 and Trump removed Obama’s attorneys in 2017. However, the difference this time is the lack of coordination between the White House and the DOJ’s Executive Office for a successorship plan on who would sign court paper fillings.
Various prominent government officials have resigned after thousands of federal workers have been laid off. Most notably, seven federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Washington have resigned as Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered them to drop charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who faces charges of bribery and campaign finance violations.
Moreover, Denise Cheung, a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., resigned on February 18. Interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin asked her to step down after she refused to order a bank to freeze an unnamed contractor’s accounts. The freeze order is believed to have stemmed from Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to take the $20 billion grants for clean energy and other environmental projects from the Biden administration. Cheung claimed that there was insufficient evidence and strange timing. She also questioned if the officials were attempting to “bypass” the usual chain of command by intervening directly on the matter.
Currently, Trump has begun replacing attorneys with his own nominees. These include Southern Florida-based Jason Reding Quiñones and Washington-based Ed Martin. The latter is controversial because of his support and funding for the January 6 rioters. These nominees are waiting to be approved by the Senate.
