On Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Donald Trump called for the “termination” of all “Biden-era” U.S. attorneys.
“Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before,” Trump wrote. “Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys. We must ‘clean house’ [immediately] and restore confidence. America’s [g]olden [a]ge must have a fair Justice System.”
It is not uncommon for incoming administrations to appoint attorneys of their choosing, but the White House typically requests letters of resignation rather than firing appointees. From the state of Washington to the state of Maryland, several U.S. attorneys have either resigned or received notifications of termination from the White House, including Danielle Sassoon of New York’s Southern District and Denise Cheung of the District of Columbia.
Sassoon resigned last week after the Department of Justice directed her to dismiss corruption charges against Eric Adams. Elsewhere, Cheung resigned after being directed to investigate funding distributed to the Environmental Protection Agency during the Biden-Harris administration.
Moving forward, Trump will be tasked with appointing new U.S. attorneys, whom the Senate must approve.
