On October 27, U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright ruled that Bill Essayli is unlawfully serving as a “de facto” United States Attorney in Los Angeles. He found that Essayli’s arrangement matched the one an appeals court rejected in August in the case of Sigal Chattah in Nevada, and that a new designation from Attorney General Todd Blanche trimming some of Essayli’s duties did not meaningfully distinguish it. The order takes effect only after the court rules on the government’s request for a pause pending appeal. Essayli disagrees, says the president and attorney general may choose supervisors within the Justice Department, and plans to keep serving until the Supreme Court settles the question. The decision follows earlier rulings that administration-installed U.S. attorneys in New Jersey and New York were not lawfully in office.

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