115 rows · Living former U.S. attorneys general. As of May 2022, there are nine living former U.S. attorneys general, the oldest being Edwin Meese (served 1985–1988, born 1931). The most recent attorney general to die was Ramsey Clark on April 9, 2021 (served 1966–1969, born 1927). The most recently serving attorney general to die was Janet Reno on November 7, 2016 …
Ultimately, he stepped down after coming under intense criticism for firing nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 — the decision to fire several members of the Department of Justice on Dec. 7 …
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Nov 08, 2018 · "Attorney General Sessions has been a dedicated public servant for over 40 years. It has been a privilege to work under his leadership. He is …
United States Attorney General | |
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Flag of the United States Attorney General | |
Incumbent Merrick Garland since March 11, 2021 | |
United States Department of Justice | |
Style | Mr. Attorney General (informal) The Honorable (formal) |
District | United States Attorney |
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New York, Eastern | Breon S. Peace * |
New York, Northern | Carla B. Freedman * |
New York, Southern | Damian Williams * |
New York, Western | Trini E. Ross * |
Whitaker in a statement called Sessions as a dedicated public servant and said he is committed to leading the Justice Department with the "highest ethical standards.". "It is a true honor that the President has confidence in my ability to lead the Department of Justice as Acting Attorney General. I am committed to leading a fair Department with ...
15, 2017. Rep. Jerry Nadler , the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, also called for accountability.
Rosenstein soon appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to oversee the Russia probe, angering the president. Win McNamee/Getty Images.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel stated that some of the emails that had involved official correspondence relating to the firing of attorneys may have been lost because they were conducted on Republican party accounts and not stored properly. "Some official e-mails have potentially been lost and that is a mistake the White House is aggressively working to correct." said Stanzel, a White House spokesman. Stonzel said that they could not rule out the possibility that some of the lost emails dealt with the firing of U.S. attorneys. For example, J. Scott Jennings, an aide to Karl Rove communicated with Justice Department officials "concerning the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former Rove aide, as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, according to e-mails released in March, 2007. For that exchange, Jennings, although working at the White House, used an e-mail account registered to the Republican National Committee, where Griffin had worked as a political opposition researcher."
Attorney General Gonzales, in a confidential memorandum dated March 1, 2006, delegated authority to senior DOJ staff Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson to hire and dismiss political appointees and some civil service positions.
Officials who resigned. Alberto Gonzales, United States Attorney General, former White House Counsel. Kyle Sampson, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General. Michael A. Battle, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. Michael Elston, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General.
Kevin Ryan (R) Though described as "loyal to the Bush administration," he was allegedly fired for the possible controversy that negative job performance evaluations might cause if they were released. John McKay (R) Was given a positive job evaluation 7 months before he was fired.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy stated that Congress has the authority to subpoena Justice Department and White House officials including chief political advisor to the president Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers. On March 20, President Bush declared in a press conference that his aides would not testify under oath on the matter if subpoenaed by Congress. Bush explained his position saying,
Sampson's replacement as the Attorney General's temporary chief of staff was U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Chuck Rosenberg. Rosenberg initiated a DOJ inquiry into possibly inappropriate political considerations in Monica Goodling's hiring practices for civil service staff. Civil service positions are not political appointments and must be made on a nonpartisan basis. In one example, Jeffrey A. Taylor, former interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, tried to hire a new career prosecutor, Seth Adam Meinero, in the fall of 2006. Goodling judged Meinero too "liberal" and declined to approve the hire. Meinero, a Howard University law school graduate who had worked on civil rights cases at the Environmental Protection Agency, was serving as a special assistant prosecutor in Taylor's office. Taylor went around Goodling, and demanded Sampson's approval to make the hire. In another example, Goodling removed an attorney from her job at the Department of Justice because she was rumored to be a lesbian, and, further, blocked the attorney from getting other Justice Department jobs she was qualified for. Rules concerning hiring at the Justice department forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation.
A number of members of both houses of Congress publicly said Gonzales should resign, or be fired by Bush. On March 14, 2007, Senator John E. Sununu ( R, New Hampshire) became the first Republican lawmaker to call for Gonzales' resignation. Sununu cited not only the controversial firings but growing concern over the use of the USA PATRIOT Act and misuse of national security letters by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Calls for his ousting intensified after his testimony on April 19, 2007. By May 16, at least twenty-two Senators and seven Members of the House of Representatives — including Senators Hillary Clinton ( D, New York) and Mark Pryor ( D, Arkansas )— had called for Gonzales' resignation.
Amid the Watergate investigation, Richard Nixon asked attorney general Elliot Richardson and his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who months earlier had subpoenaed Nixon’s Oval Office recordings. Both lawyers opted to resign instead. In the wake of what was dubbed the Saturday Night Massacre, the President’s approval rating dropped to 27 percent. Four decades on, the presidential oustings are still the most infamous.
Before he was the President, Donald Trump was most famous for booting people on TV—a habit that has proved hard to quit. So far, acting attorney general Sally Yates, national-security adviser Michael Flynn, and FBI director James Comey (above) have all found themselves on the receiving end of the onetime TV host’s catchphrase, “You’re fired.”.
Biggest Turnaround. On April 11, 1951, Harry S. Truman replaced popular general Douglas MacArthur with General Matthew Ridgway over what Truman called MacArthur’s “rank insubordination” during the Korean War. Enjoying a hero’s welcome back home, MacArthur was invited to speak to a joint session of Congress.
In 1981 , Ronald Reagan fired 11,400 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization 48 hours after offering them an ultimatum: end their illegal strike or forfeit their jobs. The workers, seeking better pay and working conditions, were banned from federal employment.
In 1981, Ronald Reagan fired 11,400 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization 48 hours after offering them an ultimatum: end their illegal strike or forfeit their jobs. The workers, seeking better pay and working conditions, were banned from federal employment. Reagan’s Secretary of State George P. Shultz called the tough domestic play his boss’s most important foreign-policy decision: The Soviets were watching.
Abraham Lincoln fired General George McClellan, who wrote to his wife: “There never was a truer epithet applied to a certain individual than that of the ‘Gorilla.’ ” For his part, Lincoln said, “If General McClellan does not want to use the Army, I would like to borrow it.” In the 1864 election, McClellan ran against his old boss and lost. Lincoln then gave command of the army to future two-term President Ulysses S. Grant.
Before he was the President, Donald Trump was most famous for booting people on TV —a habit that has proved hard to quit.
Harry S. Truman. Douglas MacArthur, Commander of U.N. forces in Korea. Truman fired MacArthur for insubordination after privately pushing for a wider war with China and publicly criticizing Truman. After being dismissed, he was invited to address a joint session of Congress.
Flynn was fired the first time for sharing sensitive information with foreign intelligence officials without authorization. Donald Trump. Sally Yates, Acting Attorney General. Trump fired Yates when she sent out a memo instructing Justice staff not to defend the executive order banning travel by certain populations.
Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense. After presiding over the escalation of the Vietnam war, McNamara recommended a negotiated peace and withdrawal in 1967. His recommendations were rejected and he left office, later saying, “I do not know to this day whether I quit or was fired.”. Richard Nixon.
Trump responded “FAKE NEWS!” to reports in late 2017 that he was planning to fire his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Three and a half months later, a Trump tweet informed Tillerson he would indeed be replaced by Pompeo. Jeff Sessions , Attorney General.
President Donald Trump, long known for his reality television show’s signature line, “You’re fired,” has continued its use during his time in office. Here, Roll Call catalogues the last 70 years or so of presidents notably telling top officials to “take a hike.”. President Harry S. Truman through Trump: