On March 10, 2017, Jeff Sessions, who was appointed United States attorney general by President Donald Trump, requested the resignations of 46 United States attorneys. Some resignations were declined by Sessions or Trump. Media outlets described Sessions' move as abrupt and unexpected but not unprecedented. It is typical that when a new president enters office, many sitting U.S. attorneys depart on their own initiative before their term in office has concluded, or they are asked to resign. The other 47 U.S. attorney posts were either already vacant by the end of Barack Obama's administration or the incumbent U.S. attorney had resigned at the beginning of Trump's administration.
