Federal Court Defends Albany US Attorney Pick After DOJ Firing

Federal judges defended their authority to select a new US attorney for the Northern District of New York after the Justice Department quickly fired the court’s newly appointed top prosecutor.

The appointment of longtime litigator Donald Kinsella falls in line with the court’s statutory role to name a US attorney at the time of a vacancy, the court said Thursday.

The statement came a day after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche posted on X that the Justice Department was firing Kinsella, hours after his swearing in.

Kinsella, who previously served as the office’s criminal chief until his retirement in 2002, was appointed after a federal judge last month disqualified the Trump administration’s pick, John Sarcone, from serving in the role on an acting basis after his interim term expired.

“The Court thanks Donald T. Kinsella for his willingness to return to public service so that this vacancy could be filled with a qualified, experienced former prosecutor,” the court said Thursday.

The saga is the latest escalation in the judiciary’s battle with DOJ over the Trump administration’s efforts to bypass the traditional appointments process to keep its preferred prosecutors leading US attorneys’ offices. DOJ also fired a US attorney in New Jersey last year whom judges had appointed to replace President Donald Trump’s choice.

Judges so far have ruled that the administration’s attempts to keep US attorneys on in acting roles runs afoul of federal vacancy laws. Lindsey Halligan and Alina Habba, Trump’s picks for the Eastern District of Virginia and New Jersey, both resigned after courts ruled against their appointments.

Blanche said in his X post, that “judges don’t pick U.S. attorneys,” the president does.

“You are fired, Donald Kinsella,” he posted.

Habba, now a senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi, defended Kinsella’s firing in an X post on Thursday. “Judges are not running this administration. President Donald J. Trump is,” she said.

The court confirmed Thursday that Kinsella had been fired, writing that Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Morgan DeWitt Snow notified Kinsella by the end of the day Wednesday that he’d been removed from the job, without explanation.

Senior US District Judge Lorna Schofield ruled in January that Sarcone, who has no prior federal prosecutorial experience, was improperly appointed to the role. Schofield also barred Sarcone from continuing his office’s investigation into whether New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) violated Trump’s civil rights by bringing a fraud suit against him in 2022.

DOJ since appealed Schofield’s ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Federal judges in the Northern District of New York declined in July 2025 to appoint Sarcone to the US attorney post after his interim term expired. Federal law allows district courts to appoint a US attorney to serve until a vacancy is filled after an attorney general appointee has served 120 days.

Sarcone is now listed as “First Assistant U.S. Attorney” on the office’s website.

Kinsella didn’t respond to requests for comment.