U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced a bill that would return the authority to appoint acting United States Attorneys to the President, reversing current rules that allow federal judges to make such appointments if Senate confirmation is delayed beyond 120 days. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is a cosponsor of the legislation.
“President Trump deserves to pick the people working for him,” said Senator Mike Lee. “Judges shouldn’t get to choose the US Attorney who will be arguing cases before them, just as they would never let a President name their law clerks. Congress took this provision out once before, and Democrats revived it to hamper the Bush administration almost 20 years ago. It’s time we restored this prerogative to the leader of the Executive Branch.”
Under existing law, U.S. Attorneys are nominated by the President and require Senate approval. While waiting for this confirmation, an interim U.S. Attorney can be appointed by the Attorney General for up to 120 days. If there is still no Senate-confirmed appointee after that period, district courts currently have authority to select another interim U.S. Attorney.
Supporters of Lee’s bill argue that allowing courts this power undermines separation of powers and creates potential conflicts of interest since judges could appoint prosecutors who appear before them in court.
Senator Lee stated that his proposed legislation aims to restore appointment authority exclusively to the executive branch.
Further coverage on this legislative effort can be found at The Federalist: https://thefederalist.com/2024/07/31/sen-mike-lee-bill-would-stop-federal-judges-from-picking-prosecutors/.
The full text of Senator Lee’s bill is available here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/5678/text.
