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List of Department of Justice appointments by Donald Trump

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Color key

[edit]

  Denotes appointees serving in offices that did not require Senate confirmation.

  Denotes appointees confirmed by the Senate.

  Denotes appointees awaiting Senate confirmation.

  Denotes appointees serving in an acting capacity.

  Denotes appointees who have left office or offices which have been disbanded.

  Denotes nominees who were withdrawn prior to being confirmed or assuming office.

Appointments (first administration)

[edit]
Office Nominee Assumed office left office

Attorney General

William Barr[1]
February 14, 2019
(Confirmed February 14, 2019, 54–45)[2]
December 23, 2020

Deputy Attorney General

Jeffrey A. Rosen
May 22, 2019
(Confirmed May 16, 2019, 52–45)[3]
January 20, 2021

Associate Attorney General

Claire McCusker Murray
May 14, 2019 January 20, 2021

Solicitor General
Jeff Wall July 3, 2020 January 20, 2021

Assistant Attorney General
(Antitrust Division)

Makan Delrahim[4]
September 28, 2017
(Confirmed September 27, 2017, 73–21)[5]
January 20, 2021

Assistant Attorney General
(Civil Division)

Ethan P. Davis
July 4, 2020 September 11, 2020

Assistant Attorney General
(Civil Rights)

Eric Dreiband[6]
October 12, 2018
(Confirmed October 11, 2018, 50–47)[7]
January 8, 2021

Assistant Attorney General
(Criminal Division)

Brian Rabbitt
July 3, 2020 December 24, 2020

Assistant Attorney General
(Environment and Natural Resources Division)

Jeffrey Clark[8]
November 1, 2018
(Confirmed October 11, 2018, 52–45)[9]
January 21, 2021

Assistant Attorney General
(National Security Division)

John Demers[10]
February 22, 2018
(Confirmed February 15, 2018, voice vote)
January 20, 2021

Assistant Attorney General
(Tax Division)

Assistant Attorney General
(Office of Legal Counsel)

Steven Engel[11]
November 13, 2017
(Confirmed November 7, 2017, 51–47)[12]
January 20, 2021

Assistant Attorney General
(Office of Legal Policy)

Beth Ann Williams
August 21, 2017
(Confirmed August 3, 2017, voice vote)
December 11, 2020

Assistant Attorney General
(Office of Legislative Affairs)

Stephen Boyd
September 5, 2017
(Confirmed August 3, 2017, voice vote)
January 20, 2021
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Regina Lombardo
May 1, 2019
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Christopher A. Wray[13]
August 2, 2017
(Confirmed August 1, 2017, 92–5)[14]
Federal Bureau of Prisons

Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Prison Industries

Deline R. Reardon[15]
March 5, 2018
Office of Justice Programs

Assistant Attorney General
(Office of Justice Programs)
Vacant

Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance
Jon Adler[16] December 11, 2017
(Appointed September 15, 2017)
Jeffrey H. Anderson November 2017

Director of the National Institute of Justice

David B. Muhlhausen[17][18]
August 22, 2017
(Appointed July 11, 2017)

Director of the Office for Victims of Crime

Darlene Hutchinson Biehl[19]
August 14, 2017
(Appointed July 1, 2017)

Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Caren Harp[20]
January 19, 2018
(Appointed December 18, 2017)

Director of the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking

Laura Rogers
January 4, 2018
(Appointed October 5, 2017)
Office on Violence Against Women

Director of the Office of Violence Against Women

Laura Rogers
2019
Foreign Claims Settlement Commission

Member of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission
Patrick Hovakimian[21] June 4, 2018
(Confirmed May 10, 2018, voice vote)
United States Parole Commission
Commissioner of the United States Parole Commission Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
United States Marshals Service

Director of the United States Marshals Service

Donald W. Washington
March 29, 2019

Director of Community Relations Service
Gerri Ratliff June 15, 2018

Previous officeholders (first administration)

[edit]
Office Name Took office Left office Notes

Attorney General

Jeff Sessions
February 8, 2017 November 7, 2018 Resigned at the request of President Trump. Replaced temporarily with Matthew Whitaker.[22]

William Barr

February 14, 2019 December 23, 2020 Resigned. President Trump announced Barr's departure in December and the Attorney General subsequently confirmed it.[23]

Sally Yates
January 20, 2017 January 30, 2017 Dismissed by President Trump on January 30, after she instructed the Justice Department not to make legal arguments defending Executive Order 13769.

Deputy Attorney General
January 10, 2015 January 30, 2017

General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Dana Boente
January 23, 2018 May 30, 2020 [24]

Attorney General
January 30, 2017 February 9, 2017

Deputy Attorney General
February 9, 2017 April 25, 2017

Rod Rosenstein
April 26, 2017 May 11, 2019 Despite numerous reports of his resignation or firing, he lasted through the release of the Mueller Report and the appointments of AG Barr and DAG Rosen.

Assistant Attorney General (Civil Rights Division)

Eric Dreiband

November 1, 2018 January 8, 2021 Resignation announced by the Department of Justice on January 7, 2021.[25] The New York Times noted that his resignation did not specifically refer to the events of the prior day.[26]

Assistant Attorney General
(Civil Division)

Jody Hunt
September 4, 2018 July 3, 2020 [27]

Chief of Staff to the Attorney General
February 2017 September 22, 2017

Matthew Whitaker
September 22, 2017 November 7, 2018 [28]

Attorney General
November 7, 2018 February 14, 2019

Senior Counselor in the Office of the Associate Attorney General
February 15, 2019 March 2, 2019

Solicitor General

Noel Francisco
January 23, 2017 March 10, 2017
September 19, 2017 July 3, 2020 [29]
Jeff Wall March 10, 2017 September 19, 2017

Associate Attorney General

Rachel Brand
May 22, 2017 February 20, 2018 Resigned to take a job as head of global corporate governance at Walmart.[30]

Jesse Panuccio
February 2017 May 22, 2017
February 21, 2018 May 3, 2019

Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General
February 2017 May 14, 2019

Assistant Attorney General
(Criminal Division)

Brian Benczkowski
July 16, 2018 July 3, 2020 [31]

Deputy Assistant Attorney General
(Antitrust Division)

Donald Kempf Jr.
2017 2018 Resigned over an investigation into his misconduct.[32]

United States Attorneys
Various March 10, 2017

On March 10, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions requested the resignations of 46 United States Attorneys.[33] Trump declined to accept the resignations of Dana Boente, who was serving as Acting Deputy Attorney General, and Rod Rosenstein, whom Trump had selected to become Deputy Attorney General.[34][35][36] Trump also allowed Deirdre M. Daly and Richard S. Hartunian to remain in office for a period of several months until they completed 20 years of service at the Justice Department.[37]


U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York

Preet Bharara
August 13, 2009 March 11, 2017 Bharara refused to resign and was fired.[38][39]

Geoffrey Berman
January 5, 2018 June 20, 2020 On June 19, Barr announced that Berman was stepping down, Craig Carpenito would be acting U.S. Attorney, and Jay Clayton would be nominated as Berman's permanent replacement. Berman countered that he had no intention to resign. He agreed to leave after Barr relented and named Audrey Strauss to be acting U.S. Attorney, preserving the integrity of SDNY.[40]

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia

Jessie K. Liu
September 24, 2017 January 31, 2020 Trump nominated Liu to be Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, then withdrew the nomination on February 11, 2020.[41]

Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia
Jonathan Kravis February 11, 2020 Kravis and Zelinsky resigned when the Attorney General refused to support their sentencing recommendations for Roger Stone. Two other Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Adam Jed and Mike Marando, withdrew from the case.[42]
Aaron Zelinsky

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia

B. J. Pak
October 10, 2017 January 4, 2021 Resigned rather than support Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump also considered firing Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and replacing him with Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, who was willing to challenge the election results.[43]

Director of the Election Crimes Branch
Richard Pilger March 2010 November 9, 2020 Resigned in protest after Attorney General Barr gave an authorization for federal prosecutors to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, going against longstanding guidance.[44]

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

James Comey
September 4, 2013 May 9, 2017

Statements from Trump and the White House suggested he had been dismissed to ease the "pressure" on Trump due to the Russia investigation.[45][46][47] Later that month he arranged for a friend to tell the press about a memo he had written after a February 14 private meeting with the president. It said Trump had asked him to end the FBI's investigation into Michael Flynn, the former National Security Advisor. His dismissal, the memo, and Comey's subsequent Congressional testimony were interpreted by some commentators as evidence of obstruction of justice and became part of a widening investigation by Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel appointed to probe Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[48]


Andrew McCabe
May 9, 2017 August 2, 2017

Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
February 1, 2016 January 29, 2018 Resigned after being repeatedly taunted by President Trump.[49][50] He then went on paid leave until his scheduled retirement date of March 18, 2018.[51] On March 16, 2018, Jeff Sessions fired McCabe 26 hours before his scheduled retirement.[52][53] Sessions said he based his action on reports from the DOJ Inspector General and the FBI's disciplinary office saying that McCabe had made unauthorized releases of information to the media and had "lacked candor" in talking about it. McCabe denied he had ever been dishonest and charged that his firing was politically motivated.[54][55][56]

Assistant Director for Public Affairs for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Michael Kortan September 2009 February 2018 [57]

Deputy Assistant Director, FBI Counterintelligence Division

Peter Strzok
August 10, 2018 Fired for anti-Trump text messages.[58]

Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons

Mark Inch
September 18, 2017 May 18, 2018
Hugh Hurwitz May 2018 August 19, 2019 Removed after Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide while in Federal custody.

Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration

Robert W. Patterson
October 1, 2017 July 2, 2018 Retired.

Appointments (second administration)

[edit]
Office Nominee Assumed office Left office

Attorney General

Pam Bondi[59]
Awaiting Senate Confirmation

Deputy Attorney General

Todd Blanche[60]

Solicitor General
D. John Sauer[61]

Assistant Attorney General
(Antitrust Division)

Gail Slater[62]

Assistant Attorney General
(Civil Rights Division)

Harmeet Dhillon[63]

Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General
Emil Bove[64] January 20, 2025
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Kash Patel[65]
Awaiting Senate Confirmation
United States Attorneys

U.S. Attorney for the S.D. of New York

Jay Clayton[66]
Awaiting Senate Confirmation

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Ballhaus, Rebecca; Gurman, Sadie; Viswanatha, Aruna (7 December 2018). "Trump Taps William Barr to Be Next Attorney General". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  2. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation William Pelham Barr, of Virginia, to Attorney General)". US Senate. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  3. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Jeffrey A. Rosen, of Virginia, to be Deputy Attorney General)". US Senate. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  4. ^ Bartz, Diane (March 27, 2017). "Delrahim to be nominated to head U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division". Reuters. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  5. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Makan Delrahim, of California, to be an Assistant Attorney General)". US Senate. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  6. ^ "PN1409 – Nomination of Eric S. Dreiband for Department of Justice, 115th Congress (2017–2018)". www.congress.gov. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  7. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Eric S. Dreiband, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Attorney General)". US Senate. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  8. ^ "PN1407 – Nomination of Jeffrey Bossert Clark for Department of Justice, 115th Congress (2017–2018)". www.congress.gov. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  9. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Jeffrey Bossert Clark, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Attorney General)". US Senate. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
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  49. ^ Williams, Katie Bo (March 16, 2018). "Sessions fires McCabe from FBI". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
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  51. ^ "FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepping down". January 29, 2018. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
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  54. ^ Bo Williams, Katie (March 16, 2018). "Sessions fires McCabe from FBI". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  55. ^ Tanfani, Joseph (March 16, 2018). "Former FBI official Andrew McCabe, a target of Trump, is fired just before his retirement". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
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  57. ^ "Another longtime Comey aide leaving FBI". Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  58. ^ Zapotosky, Matt (August 13, 2018). "FBI agent Peter Strzok fired over anti-Trump texts". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  59. ^ "Trump announces Pam Bondi as new attorney general pick hours after Matt Gaetz withdraws". NBC News. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  60. ^ "Trump picks his lawyer, Todd Blanche, as deputy attorney general". NPR. November 14, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  61. ^ "Lawyer who argued for Trump's immunity at Supreme Court is tapped for solicitor general". Politico. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  62. ^ Godoy, Jody (December 4, 2024). "Trump picks Gail Slater to head Justice Department's antitrust division". Reuters. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  63. ^ Cite error: The named reference New Picks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  64. ^ "Trump appoints his legal team to key Justice Department posts". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
  65. ^ Doherty, Sophia Cai,Erin (2024-12-01). "Trump picks hardline loyalist Kash Patel to head FBI". Axios. Retrieved 2024-12-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  66. ^ Ramaswamy, Swapna Venugopal. "Donald Trump picks Jay Clayton, former SEC chair, for powerful U.S. attorney role". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-12-05.