Judge posts job opening for top prosecutor spot that DOJ claims Lindsey Halligan occupies

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Though a judge disqualified Halligan from her position, the Justice Department as recently as last week referred to her as the interim U.S. attorney.

NEW: Judge posts job opening for top prosecutor spot that DOJ claims Lindsey Halligan occupies

www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

— Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” (@ryanjreilly.com) 2026-01-20T18:26:26.993Z

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judge-posts-job-opening-top-prosecutor-spot-doj-claims-lindsey-halliga-rcna254982

WASHINGTON — A top federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia has posted a job opening for a top federal prosecutor position that the Trump administration claims is occupied by Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan.

Chief Judge M. Hannah Lauck entered an order on Tuesday ordering the clerk of the court to post a vacancy announcement, soliciting applications from attorneys interested in filling the position of Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

“In the exercise of the authority conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 546(d) to appoint an Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia until the position is filled by a Senate confirmed person, the Court is soliciting expressions of interest in serving in that position,” the order read.

Under the law, when the position is vacant — as the chief judge declared it was — the court can “appoint a United States Attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled" by a Senate-confirmed candidate. The application deadline is listed as Feb. 10, 2026.

A judge previously ruled that Halligan was unlawfully serving in the role and dismissed cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. After President Donald Trump urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute James and Comey, frequent targets of the president's ire, Halligan— who had no prior prosecutorial experience — presented the cases against them to federal grand jurors.

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1. Federal judges Virginia are seeking applicants to succeed Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. attorney

Link to tweet

Here is the vacancy announcement

[NewHendoLib]

2. She's George Costanza

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3. Federal judges formally strip Lindsey Halligan of U.S. attorney title

This makes me smile

🚨BREAKING: Federal judges in eastern Virginia have moved to strip Lindsey Halligan, the embattled loyalist lawyer President Donald Trump handpicked to prosecute his enemies last year, of her alleged U.S. attorney title more than a month after a court formally disqualified her from the role.

— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) 2026-01-20T17:37:42.990Z

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-judges-strip-lindsey-halligan-us-attorney-title/

Federal judges in eastern Virginia have moved to strip Lindsey Halligan, the embattled loyalist lawyer President Donald Trump handpicked to prosecute his enemies last year, of her self-proclaimed U.S. attorney title more than a month after a court formally disqualified her from the role.

On Tuesday, M. Hannah Lauck, the chief judge of the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a court notice that since Halligan’s 120-day appointment — which was found to have been unlawful — formally ends Tuesday, the U.S. attorney title in the district would be vacant. Lauck also asked for qualified attorneys to apply to fill the role.

The move represents the latest development in the monthslong struggle between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and federal judges over who should lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The notice and job posting come just days after Trump, in a desperate attempt to keep Halligan at the helm of the key U.S. attorney’s office, nominated her to the position for a second time.

In the court notice, Lauck said that because the Senate had not confirmed Halligan, federal judges in the district now had the authority to appoint someone to replace her.