The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a growing dispute over how President Donald Trump’s administration has installed interim federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation.
The request follows a ruling by a federal appeals court that found Sigal Chattah was not lawfully serving as Nevada’s top federal prosecutor and barred her from overseeing three criminal matters.
In a petition filed with the Supreme Court, Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the justices to overturn the ruling, arguing that the lower court had interpreted the Federal Vacancies Reform Act too narrowly.
The administration maintains that the law gives the attorney general broad authority to delegate responsibilities when senior positions within the Justice Department are vacant. According to Sauer, the appeals court decisions could create uncertainty across U.S. Attorney’s Offices and complicate the government’s ability to keep those offices functioning while permanent nominees await confirmation.
The Justice Department also warned that the Nevada ruling could have consequences beyond Chattah’s position, potentially affecting five U.S. Attorney’s Offices within the Ninth Circuit that together oversee thousands of civil and criminal cases each year.
At the heart of the dispute is the administration’s decision to place Trump-aligned figures in powerful federal prosecutorial positions without first securing Senate approval.
Chattah, a former Republican National Committee chairwoman in Nevada, entered the Justice Department after being selected in March 2025 for a temporary 120-day appointment as U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada.
As that period approached its end, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi used a different legal mechanism to keep Chattah in charge. Bondi designated her as First Assistant U.S. Attorney, a position that ordinarily places its holder next in line to become acting U.S. Attorney under federal vacancies law.
That move became the subject of challenges brought by federal public defenders in Nevada. They argued that Chattah did not have the legal authority to continue acting as the district’s chief federal prosecutor and sought the dismissal of the criminal cases in which her authority was questioned.
A federal district judge sided with the challengers, leading the administration to appeal.
The Ninth Circuit subsequently concluded that a first assistant can take over as acting U.S. Attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act only if that individual was already serving in the first-assistant position when the vacancy occurred.
The Nevada dispute is part of a broader legal fight over the Trump administration’s approach to filling federal prosecutorial posts.
Other federal appeals courts have reached similar conclusions involving Trump allies placed in senior prosecutor roles. The 3rd Circuit ruled against the appointment of Alina Habba as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, while the 2nd Circuit issued a ruling concerning John Sarcone’s appointment in the Northern District of New York.
The administration’s Supreme Court petition now places the broader question before the nation’s highest court: how far the attorney general can go in using federal vacancies law to install acting U.S. Attorneys when Senate confirmation has not taken place.
The case is United States v. Jackson, No. 26-304.
