Federal judges in Manhattan named Jay Clayton U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York on a Monday in August 2025, effective August 20. The Senate had no part in it.
Clayton was President Donald Trump’s own choice, and the court’s move kept him in the job as his interim term was about to run out. CNN described it as the president’s first significant U.S. attorney appointment to go unchallenged.
The catch is that Trump’s choice is not in the post through the normal route. Senators had blocked most of Trump’s U.S. attorney nominations, Clayton’s among them. The administration responded by installing interim U.S. attorneys around the country. Those terms are expiring, and federal law lets district judges appoint someone once an interim’s time is up.
Clayton is a former corporate attorney who chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term. He has never worked as a prosecutor. CNN noted that, unlike some of Trump’s picks elsewhere, he had not made charging decisions that critics called politically motivated.
Other districts went differently
Judges elsewhere have pushed back. In New Jersey, district judges rejected interim U.S. attorney Alina Habba and chose another lawyer, whom Trump then fired. Two court cases challenge Habba’s appointment. In the Northern District of New York, judges declined to appoint anyone, and Trump’s choice, John Sarcone III, became acting U.S. attorney.
That dispute later escalated. Resist the Mainstream reported in February 2026 that judges in the Northern District installed a veteran prosecutor, Donald Kinsella, only for the White House to fire him by email hours later. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche posted on X: “Judges don’t pick U.S. Attorneys, POTUS does. See Article II of our Constitution. You are fired, Donald Kinsella.” Kinsella said he was unsure the dismissal carried legal weight and planned to talk with the district’s judges.
The same report said U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield had earlier ruled that Sarcone was not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney and quashed subpoenas from his office in probes involving New York Attorney General Letitia James and the National Rifle Association. The Justice Department appealed to the Second Circuit. Critics say the administration is sidestepping Senate confirmation, while Justice Department officials maintain that the president and attorney general have the authority to choose U.S. attorneys.
Manhattan has been through this before. Geoff Berman, who ran the office in Trump’s first term, was also never confirmed by the Senate and was appointed by the district court judges. The administration later replaced him.
Sources
- Judges approve Trump’s pick as interim US Attorney in Manhattan | CNN Politics
- Trump Admin Blindsides Judges With Stunning Power Play
