In yet another unusual twist, John Sarcone is back on the job as the top federal prosecutor for the Northern District of New York.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone as acting U.S. Attorney back in March, a temporary move that had to be formalized by this week.
But after a panel of judges on Monday declined his bid for a permanent appointment, Bondi named Sarcone special attorney to the Attorney General and First Assistant U.S. Attorney – putting him back in charge of the office for the foreseeable future. The district includes a large swath of upstate cities, including Albany and Plattsburgh.
A spokesperson from the Department of Justice said the new appointments allow Sarcone to again serve as the acting U.S. Attorney “pursuant to the Vacancy Reform Act.” The act “directs that the first assistant to the vacant office is the default acting officer,” according to the Government Accountability Office, which oversees compliance with the act.
Sarcone is a Republican lawyer and tough-on-crime hardliner who has vowed to support local law enforcement while serving as U.S. Attorney. He made headlines after he was confronted by a knife-wielding undocumented immigrant, and the Albany Times Union reported he listed a boarded-up building as his place of residence in the district. Residency in the district is a requirement for the position.
Carl Tobias, who teaches law at the University of Richmond, said he sees the federal judges’ declining to permanently appoint Sarcone to the role as “a vote of no confidence or little confidence.”
"I think the judges were trying to be fair and not have a confrontation with the DOJ or with President Trump, but finding a way to be neutral, so they declined to exercise that authority, which they had," Tobias said. "But at the same time, I think this was a vote of no confidence, or little confidence, in having him continue in the office."
Those personal circumstances are not the only atypical factors swirling over Sarcone’s interim term so far. While President Donald Trump went through standard nomination processes in the Senate to confirm U.S. Attorneys across the country during his first term, his second administration has so far chosen to exercise that route less frequently – including in Sarcone’s case.
“That's my concern here, is the process is not very regular,” Tobias said. “It's cutting the Senate out of the process.”
Tobias said it is unclear if vacancy laws would allow Sarcone to effectively continue in the role as acting U.S. Attorney. The path that the federal administration took to re-appoint Sarcone is uncommon – as was a panel of federal judges’ decision to not offer him a permanent appointment. Because Sarcone was not officially nominated by Trump but rather appointed by Bondi, Sarcone had to garner approval by a panel of federal judges to permanently stay in the job.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said he would exercise his privileges as a home-state senator to block Trump nominees Jay Clayton as U.S. attorney for the Southern District and Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District. Michael DiGiacomo, another Bondi appointee, received a judicial appointment to the Western District last month.
