Joe Biden's Justice Department tells Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys to resign en masse by the end of the month despite Democrats wanting some to stay
President Joe Biden's Justice Department asked the U.S. attorneys appointed under former President Donald Trump to resign en masse despite some Democrats arguing at least one should stay on.
Illinois two Democratic senators, Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, sent out a joint statement obtained by The Washington Post that said they were 'disappointed' that they were not consulted before the Bieden DOJ asked for the resignation of Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch.
Lausch has been pursuing a corruption case into Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat.
President Joe Biden's Department of Justice has asked the U.S. attorney who were appointed by former President Donald Trump to resign
The Biden administration's Justice Department is cleaning house. The Washington Post reported that the axed U.S. attorneys will have until February 28 to pack up
Illinois Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (left) and Tammy Duckworth (right) said they were 'disappointed' in the move because Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch, a Trump appointee, is investigating the Democratic Illinois House Speaker, Michael Madigan
'While the President has the right to remove U.S. Attorneys, there is precedent for U.S. Attorneys in the Northern District of Illinois to remain in office to conclude sensitive investigations,' Durbin, the Senate Judiciary chairman, and Duckworth argued.
'We believe Mr. Lausch should be permitted to continue in his position until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, and we urge the Biden Administration to allow him to do so,' they said.
The Post reported that the U.S. attorneys will have until February 28 to pack up.
The U.S. attorney overseeing the federal tax probe involving Hunter Biden will stay in place.
The acting attorney general, Monty Wilkinson, called U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who runs the federal prosecutor's office in Delaware, and asked him to remain on the job, the official said.
The Justice Department has been investigating the finances of Hunter Biden, including scrutinizing some of his Chinese business dealings and other transactions.
The tax investigation was launched in 2018, the year before the elder Biden announced his candidacy for president.
Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of the investigation, through a statement via the Biden-Harris transition, in December after a round of subpoenas was issued in the case.
The Associated Press has reported that the subpoena seeking documents from Hunter Biden in December asked for information related to more than two dozen entities, including Ukraine gas company Burisma.
Separately, U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was appointed in October by then-Attorney General William Barr as a special counsel to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, will remain in that capacity, the senior Justice Department official said, but is expected to resign from his other position as the U.S. attorney in Connecticut.
The official could not publicly discuss the internal deliberations and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The transition process, which happens routinely between administrations, is expected to take weeks and would apply to a few dozen U.S. attorneys who were appointed by Trump and confirmed by the Senate.
Many of the federal prosecutors who were nominated by Trump have already left their positions, some in recent weeks.
It's fairly customary for the U.S. attorneys to leave their positions after a new president is in office, but the departures are not automatic and don't necessarily happen all at once.
In 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked for the resignations of 46 U.S. attorneys who were holdovers from the Obama administration.
The U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and are generally nominated with a recommendation from a home-state senator.
The 93 U.S. attorneys are responsible for overseeing offices of federal prosecutors and charged with prosecuting federal crimes in their jurisdictions.
The Senate has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing for Biden's attorney general nominee, Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge who in 2016 was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court.
CNN first reported that the Justice Department was seeking the resignations.
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