Draining the swamp: AG Sessions asks all 46 remaining Obama-era U.S. attorneys to leave Justice Department
03/11/2017 / By JD Heyes
As a way of ensuring a “uniform transition,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions has requested the remaining 46 U.S. attorneys holding over from the Obama administration to resign – though the move is seen by many as a way to staunch potential leaks and to ensure that the Justice Department begins to reflect the policy priorities of President Donald J. Trump.
As reported by Fox News, Justice Department officials said that some U.S. attorneys had already left, as has happened in prior presidential transitions. But now, a spokeswoman said, “the Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations.”
“Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. Attorney’s Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring the most violent offenders,” said a DoJ statement.
The draining of the swamp is continuing apace. (RELATED: Americans Elected Trump To “Drain The Swamp” – Well, This Is What It Looks Like, And The Establishment Doesn’t Like It.)
While it’s not mandatory, it certainly is customary for all 93 U.S. Attorneys to step down from their posts once a new administration is sworn into office. Over the past several decades, most new administrations have taken anywhere from one to two years to replace U.S. Attorneys.
But it’s clear that what has been taking place with the Trump administration – the various and sundry leaks, the outright refusal to back the president’s policies, and other acts of defiance throughout his administration – the White House is wasting no time taking cues from trusted advisors to move quickly in sacking Obama-era holdovers suspected of sabotaging the administration.
Fox News noted further:
The Obama administration allowed political appointees of President George W. Bush to serve until their replacement had been nominated and confirmed. One U.S. attorney appointed by Bush, Rod Rosenstein of Maryland, remained on the job for the entire Obama administration and is the current nominee for deputy attorney general.
In addition, Sessions’ call also puts in question the status of Preet Bharara, appointed by Obama to the position of U.S. attorney in Manhattan in 2009; he met with Trump in November and said following the meeting he agreed to stay on with the incoming administration.
While it’s likely some exceptions to Sessions’ call for resignations may be worked out – Bharara among them – no doubt the rest of the attorneys are being asked to leave as a way of potentially reducing leaks and new friction between the White House, which is adopting a number of policies that are angering Left-wing government bureaucrats still in power, who may then be working to undermine the president. (RELATED: Stay up with all the latest developments at Conservative.news.)
U.S. Attorneys are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes that occur in their districts. They report directly to the Justice Department’s hierarchy in Washington, D.C., and are expected to align their priorities with those of the attorney general (who, in turn, aligns his or hers with those of the president).
As for sacking Obama appointees, unofficial advisor Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, said last week that Trump shouldn’t waste any more time doing so. (RELATED: If Trump is to be successful in ‘draining the swamp,’ he must continue to dismantle the bureaucracy, and here’s why.)
“His playbook should be to get rid of the Obama appointees immediately,” said Gingrich, as reported by Politico. “There are an amazing number of decisions that are being made by appointees that are totally opposed to Trump and everything he stands for. Who do you think those people are responding to?”
“Ninety-five percent of the bureaucrats are against him,” he added.
Roger Stone, also a longtime Trump advisor, agreed.
“If you employ people who aren’t loyal to you, you can’t be surprised when they leak,” he also told Politico. “He should have gotten these people who are out to get him out a long time ago, a long, long time ago. I think they know that now.”
J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.
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Tagged Under: drain the swamp, Jeff Sessions, Justice Department, Obama appointees, U.S. Attorneys
