Bondi designated Bill Essayli "first assistant" to a vacant post to bypass Senate confirmation for LA's top federal prosecutor job

On July 29, 2025, days before his 120-day interim term as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California was set to expire, Bill Essayli resigned as interim U.S. Attorney. Attorney General Pam Bondi designated him "first assistant U.S. attorney" the same period -- a title that, under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act's default rule, let him keep running the Los Angeles office as its acting head without ever facing Senate confirmation. DOJ did not fill the U.S. Attorney post itself, leaving it vacant so the first-assistant designation could operate; Essayli was later also named a "special attorney" to the Attorney General, a second title carrying the same practical authority.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright ruled on October 28, 2025 that Essayli had "unlawfully assumed the role of Acting United States Attorney" since his resignation, disqualifying him from that specific title -- but held that Essayli could continue serving as first assistant U.S. attorney, which left him running the office in practice regardless of the ruling. DOJ did not appeal. A unanimous Ninth Circuit panel found the identical maneuver unlawful in a different case, involving Nevada's Sigal Chattah, on August 17, 2026, holding that the Attorney General cannot designate someone first assistant to an already-vacant U.S. Attorney's office simply to install them as its acting head without Senate confirmation. Public defenders say at least 16 federal districts nationwide use similar title arrangements to keep unconfirmed officials in charge.

Updates

2026-09-04 — Public defenders renewed effort to disqualify Essayli, citing the Ninth Circuit's Nevada ruling [3]

The Los Angeles federal public defender's office filed a motion asking Senior U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright to disqualify Essayli from participating in or supervising the prosecution of defendant Jaime Ramirez, arguing the Ninth Circuit's August ruling in the Chattah case forecloses DOJ's position. At an August 28, 2026 hearing on an earlier version of the motion, Seabright indicated he was skeptical the government's position survived that ruling; DOJ has said it disagrees with the Ninth Circuit's decision and plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. A hearing on the renewed motion is scheduled for October 13, 2026.