Two of the four U.S. attorneys in California have resigned and have been replaced by acting top prosecutors – in the Central and Eastern Districts. The other two top federal prosecutors in the state – Ismail Ramsey in San Francisco and Sara McGrath in San Diego – are expected to resign, but have made no announcements.

U.S. attorneys are appointed by the president, and traditionally resign after the inauguration of a new president, and President Donald Trump is reportedly trying to accelerate that process at a faster rate than his predecessors, including his own first term, to provide stronger support for his deportation policies and other initiatives.

Ramsey, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California based in San Francisco, is a politically connected veteran former prosecutor and high-profile criminal defense lawyer with strong ties to Kamala Harris and Willie Brown. He also is a former board member of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was appointed in 2023 by President Biden. He is on the faculty at Stanford and Berkeley law schools.

Tara McGrath, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, based in San Diego, is a Marine Corps veteran who served as assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District, and was appointed U.S. Attorney by President Biden in 2023. She is a Boston College grad who received her law degree from the University of Michigan.

Martin Estrada announced his resignation as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, based in Los Angeles, on Jan. 13. Joseph T. McNally, has been named the acting United States Attorney for the district, the largest U.S. Attorney’s Office outside of D.C. McNalley is a former assistant U.S. attorney in Orange County and served in the Justice Department in 2020. He is a Santa Clara University grad, and earned his law degree from UC Berkeley..

Philip Talbert announced his resignation as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, based in Sacramento, on Jan. 7. Michele Beckwith, his first assistant,  has been named Acting U.S. Attorney for district. The Ohio University graduate and received her law degree from The Ohio State University.

Bloomberg Law reported last week that the Trump transition is attempting to remove US attorneys immediately by replacing them with interim leaders aligned with the president-elect’s priorities, citing six lawyers briefed on the plans.

Bloomberg reported that transition staffers have been working to identify existing career prosecutors in many of the nation’s 93 law enforcement districts who they are confident would support the president-elect’s law enforcement priorities—including deportations—once elevated as acting US attorneys.

One attorney familiar with the plan told Bloomberg that the transition’s goal was to prevent “counter-revolutionaries” without necessarily choosing acting top prosecutors based on political preferences. Another individual questioned the legality of the plans, saying it potentially violates a civil service statute to redesignate career assistant US attorneys based on partisan ideology.

The transition is prioritizing high-profile districts with importance to Trump, including offices in California, New York City, Washington, D.C., Miami and Texas.

While replacing holdover US attorneys has for decades been the norm early in new administrations, Bloomberg reported that Trump’s staffing shakeups would mark a more aggressive timeline than in the past.

Bloomberg’s report said the Trump transition team is suspicious of the non-political prosecutors who by default have been bumped up to replace the Biden appointees in recent weeks, the sources said. These interim US attorneys served as top deputies to the former political appointee, and there’s concern among Trump staffers that they could still be loyal to Biden priorities.

In December, more than 30 House Republicans urged Trump to remove all US attorneys, including former first assistants, at the very start.

The newly-elected Biden administration began directing them to step down on Feb. 9, 2021. The prior Trump White House moved to dismiss the Obama-era US attorneys on March 10, 2017.

Trump has only named US attorney selections in two New York districts.