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With the new President Biden and his administration in the U.S., I see news stories that the Biden administration is asking 56 Trump-appointed and Senate confirmed U.S. attorneys to resign from their positions at the DOJ.

How does this work? Do they have to resign if asked? If one does refuse to resign, will their life as a prosecutor be difficult?

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    US Attorneys are prosecutors, not Judges. The rules are quite different. Which are you asking about?
    – David Siegel
    Commented Feb 19, 2021 at 15:52
  • Thanks for making the distinction. I'm asking about whoever is being asked to resign by the Biden administration. E.g. see here: talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/…
    – Al Lelopath
    Commented Feb 19, 2021 at 15:55

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The DoJ under the executive branch has attorneys, judges are under the independent judicial branch. US attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, so in the worst case they can be fired and some were by the previous administration. It is common for US attorneys to resign at a change of administration, but an administration can press for resignations as in the 2017 dismissal of Obama appointees (where some "solicited" resignations were not accepted). Ultimately the attorney can be fired, as Geoffrey Berman was (fired for different reasons).

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    The case of Berman is different because he was appointed by a panel of judges, not by the President, and there is still some debate on whether the President can fire him, though he didn't litigate the issue and it is moot now.
    – user102008
    Commented Feb 19, 2021 at 19:22
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    Worth clarifying that many DOJ employees are civil service employees who can only be fired for cause. But U.S. attorneys (who are political appointees appointed as the top U.S. Justice Department officials in the DOJ local office in each federal judicial district), in part because they are political appointees, serve "at will". Most governmental employees who are attorneys and working for the government as lawyers for the government are not entitled to civil service protections and also serve at will, but I don't know the status of rank and file civil service appointed DOJ attorneys re that.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Feb 20, 2021 at 0:14
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It's just a professional courtesy. They don't have to resign, but if they don't they'll be fired. They all know this (you don't get to that level without knowing how the game is played), so they'll go ahead and resign. They'll all be fine. They'll go to a law firm and triple or quadruple (or more) their salaries, go be law professors, or both. Some will look for the right opportunity to run for the house, governor, or state AG if they want to stay close to practicing law. Others may just bide their time and wait for the next conservative administration, then try to get back into a USA or other high level DOJ role.

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