BOOM! White House immediately fires U.S. attorney chosen by judges to replace Trump admin’s pick

February 13, 2026

From NBC News: The White House fired the top federal prosecutor for upstate New York just hours after he was sworn into office Wednesday.

Donald Kinsella, who has worked for decades as a government attorney and in private practice, was appointed and sworn in as the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York in a private ceremony, the court said on its website. Later that day, he was fired in an email from the White House.

Kinsella told NBC News on Thursday that the email came from the deputy director of presidential personnel, Morgan DeWitt Snow, and that it said the “president directed that I be removed,” without any explanation.

The Trump administration had chosen John A. Sarcone III for the position, but Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer had opposed Sarcone, and the panel of Northern District judges announced in July they had declined to permanently appoint Sarcone to be interim U.S. attorney.

Instead, the board of judges suddenly voted on Wednesday to appoint Kinsella to the position. Kinsella, 79, a registered Republican, had worked for over 50 years as a criminal and civil litigator.

However, he wasn’t chosen by the Trump administration, and they weren’t having him. Not for one single day. The DOJ fired Kinsella less than five hours after a panel of federal judges had appointed him to the position.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche declared in a post on X, “Judges don’t pick U.S. Attorneys, @POTUS does. See Article II of our Constitution. You are fired, Donald Kinsella.”

Judges don’t pick U.S. Attorneys, @POTUS does. See Article II of our Constitution. You are fired, Donald Kinsella. https://t.co/XUYRgaqG2T

— Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) February 12, 2026

From the Times Union: The White House’s termination of Donald T. Kinsella, a former longtime federal prosecutor, leaves open the prospect that Sarcone – who reverted to the first assistant position this week after his 210-day statutory limit to serve as acting U.S. attorney had expired – will continue managing the U.S. Attorney’s Office albeit with limited authority.