Attorney General Jeff SessionsJeff SessionsTrump adviser admits to contact with DNC hacker Spicer won’t reject idea that ‘deep state’ opposes Trump Sessions asks 46 Obama-era US attorneys to resign MORE has asked dozens of U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Obama to submit their resignations, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
U.S. attorneys are normally replaced at the beginning of new administrations. Of the 93 U.S. attorneys, 46 remain from the past administration, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Sessions asked for the federal prosecutors to resign "in order to ensure a uniform transition," DOJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement.
“As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice," the spokeswoman said.
The DOJ said career prosecutors in Sessions' office would continue investigations and prosecutions until the new U.S. attorneys are confirmed.
The call for resignations applies to Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, The New York Times reported.
The move is a surprise, as Bharara reportedly met with Trump after the election and agreed to remain in his position during the Trump administration. Sessions also asked him to stay, the prosecutor told The New York Times.
Democracy 21, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Campaign Legal Center sent a letter this week asking Bharara to investigate whether Trump has received payments or other benefits from foreign governments through his business interests, according to The Washington Post.
Under the “emoluments clause” of the Constitution, top officials are prohibited from receiving payments or favors from foreign governments.
Once the resignations are submitted, Trump would have to accept them.
Sen. Dianne FeinsteinDianne FeinsteinSessions asks 46 Obama-era US attorneys to resign American Bar Association gives Gorsuch its best rating Feinstein: 'Possibility’ Intel Dems could subpoena Trump tax returns MORE (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement calling the move an "abrupt firing" of federal prosecutors.
“Under previous administrations, orderly transitions allowed U.S. attorneys to leave gradually as their replacements were chosen," Feinstein said. "This was done to protect the independence of our prosecutors and avoid disrupting ongoing federal cases."
“At a time when Attorney General Sessions has recused himself from major investigations into the Trump campaign, the independence of federal prosecutors could not be more important," she added, reiterating the call for a special prosecutor.
- Jordan Fabian contributed.
Updated at 5:32 p.m.