James Hundley's tenure as interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia lasted about as long as a commercial break. Chief Judge Hannah Lauck appointed the veteran litigator to the role on Friday. President Trump fired him almost immediately.
Trump reposted a CBS reporter's post about the appointment on social media and left no room for ambiguity:
"Here we go again. [Eastern District of Virginia] judges do not pick our US Attorney. POTUS does. James Hundley, you're fired!"
According to the Daily Mail, the appointment and the clash it triggered are the latest chapter in a rolling power struggle over who controls federal prosecution in one of the most consequential districts in the country.
The vacancy Hundley was tapped to fill didn't materialize out of nowhere. It is the product of a chain of events stretching back months.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed a prosecutor known only by the surname Halligan, described as Trump's former personal lawyer, to a 120-day interim term at the president's public urging. Halligan pursued indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, cases her predecessor Erik Siebert had declined to bring. Trump fired Siebert for that decision.
Then, on November 24, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie pulled the rug out from under the arrangement. Currie ruled that:
A judge separately accused Halligan of "masquerading" in the role for months. Halligan departed in January 2026. The Trump administration did not name a successor. So the district court did what federal law allows it to do: it appointed one itself.
Enter James Hundley.
Hundley is no political operative. Chief Judge Lauck's order detailed his qualifications: more than 35 years as a litigator, a Georgetown University Law Center graduate from the class of 1989, six years as a prosecutor in Fairfax County, and co-founder of a law firm. He is, by any measure, a credentialed and experienced attorney.
In a statement emailed to the Daily Mail after his firing, Hundley was gracious to the point of understatement:
"It was a great honor to be appointed by the Court. I've been practicing law in Virginia for many years and have always held the Court and the United States Attorney's Office in the highest regard."
"Despite my dismissal by the President, I will continue to support our country and its justice system in any way I can."
No bitterness. No grandstanding. The man was in and out of the office in hours and responded like a professional.
Hundley's firing is not an isolated event. Just last week, the White House dismissed Donald Kinsella, a court-appointed interim US Attorney for the Northern District of New York. Kinsella had been chosen by judges to replace John Sarcone III, who, like Halligan, was deemed to be serving in the position unlawfully.
Kinsella, in a Thursday interview with Law.com, was notably measured about the whole thing:
"It's not important what my position is. It's not about me. There's a statute that authorizes the judges to fill the position, and the president hasn't nominated anyone."
"The judges decided that they wanted to fill the position. That's their prerogative. And the White House apparently believes that the president can fire the US attorney, so that's what they did."
He hinted he wouldn't challenge the White House's decision. A pragmatic read of the situation, if nothing else.
The core question here is structural: federal law gives district judges the power to appoint interim prosecutors when the administration hasn't filled the seat. The administration's position is that the president retains the authority to fire those appointees. Both sides are citing the law. Neither side is blinking.
The Hundley saga wasn't even the biggest legal confrontation of the day. On the same Friday, the Supreme Court struck down Trump's global tariffs in a 6-3 decision. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, was direct:
"The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope. IEEPA's grant of authority to 'regulate . . . importation' falls short. IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties."
Two of the justices in the majority, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, were appointed by Trump himself. The president took to Truth Social that evening to voice his frustration:
"What happened today with the two United States Supreme Court Justices that I appointed against great opposition, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, whether people like it or not, never seems to happen with Democrats. They vote against the Republicans, and never against themselves, almost every single time, no matter how good a case we have."
Hours after the ruling, Trump signed an executive order instituting a new 10 percent global tariff under a different law. The new import tax can only remain in effect for 150 days without congressional approval. Trump cited two national emergencies as justification: the influx of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States, and large trade deficits with other nations.
The speed of the response tells you everything about the administration's posture. A legal setback is not a policy retreat. It's a detour.
The Eastern District of Virginia remains without a functioning US Attorney. Judge Currie's ruling made clear that the path forward involves either the judges choosing someone or the administration advancing a permanent, Senate-confirmed candidate. Hundley was the judges' answer. The administration rejected it in a matter of hours.
That leaves the prosecutorial vacuum exactly where it was. The indictments against Comey and Letitia James have been ruled invalid. No permanent nominee has been put forward. And the district court's attempt to exercise its statutory authority has been swatted down twice in two different districts within the span of a week.
The administration clearly intends to control who holds these positions. The courts clearly believe they have a role when the administration leaves seats empty. Something has to give, and until it does, some of the most important federal prosecutorial offices in the country sit in limbo.
James Hundley went to work on Friday and was out of a job before dinner. Somewhere in that fact is a metaphor for the relationship between the executive branch and the judiciary right now. Neither side is interested in letting the other have the last word.
