Trump Names 23rd Fox News Personality To His Administration – Jeanine Pirro As Interim U.S. Attorney For D.C.

President Donald Trump announced his new appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia: Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host and prosecutor.

Pirro’s appointment makes her the 23rd Fox News personality to serve in the Trump administration.

This appointment comes hours after Trump withdrew his nomination to permanently install Ed Martin as U.S. attorney for D.C., due to pressure from Senate Republicans, who viewed his backing of Jan. 6 defendants as a bridge too far for them.

Pirro has long supported Trump, defending him on The Five talk show on Fox News and backing his election misinformation surrounding the 2020 election.

“She supports Mr. Trump’s efforts to exact vengeance on his political enemies, has backed his challenges to federal judges who have questioned the legality of his immigration policies and spent months protesting the legitimacy of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s election to the presidency in 2020,” according to the New York Times.

Pirro is also one of the Fox News hosts named in a lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems after making false claims on air about the 2020 election. Fox settled the case for $787 million and had to publicly admit that Pirro and the other hosts’ comments were false.

Trump has also supported her family. In his first term, he pardoned Pirro’s former husband and Trump’s onetime lawyer, Albert J. Pirro Jr., who was convicted of tax evasion and conspiracy in 2000.

With the move to replace one interim U.S. attorney with another, the Trump administration is attempting to skirt the need to submit U.S. attorney picks to the Senate for confirmation. This raises questions surrounding the president’s power to appoint an interim U.S. attorney for 120 days when the position is vacant.

The traditional interpretation of the law is that the president has a onetime 120-day window, after which the courts appoint an interim U.S. attorney until the Senate can confirm a candidate.

The justifications for these moves have not been publicly announced. Still, the primary theory is that, due to Martin leaving just before his 120-day term was over, it would not have technically expired, giving the president the ability to reset the clock.

If courts uphold Pirro’s appointment, Trump could circumvent traditional Senate vetting for the position and continually appoint interim U.S. attorneys every 119 days.