CHALLENGING UNLAWFUL EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS
United States v. Ramirez
A bipartisan group of current and former members of Congress asked a federal court to resolve the unlawful appointment of the United States Attorney for the Central District of California.
THE IMPACT
The Senate’s role in confirming presidential nominees is essential to maintaining accountability, preserving our system of checks and balances, and preventing executive overreach.
THE BRIEF
The President’s nominees for U.S. Attorney must be confirmed by the Senate before they can serve on a permanent basis. The Trump administration violated the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007 when it undertook an effort to keep Bilal Essayli in office as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California after his initial term expired without Senate confirmation.
We’re asking the courts to resolve this illegal appointment on behalf of a bipartisan group of current and former members of Congress who voted for the Act in 2007.
“The Administration’s recent actions to extend Mr. Essayli’s tenure as U.S. Attorney beyond the statutory limit, without Senate confirmation, implicates the very separation of powers concerns amici and Congress sought to address in 2007,” we argue in the brief.
On October 28, 2025, the court ruled that Mr. Essayli had been serving as United States Attorney for the Central District of California without legal authority, as we argued.
THE TEAM
The current and former members of Congress are represented pro bono by Free + Fair and Stris & Maher LLP.
CASE DOCUMENTS
THE CONGRESS MEMBERS
- Lloyd Doggett, Texas’s 10th Congressional District, 1995–2005, Texas’s 25th Congressional District, 2005–13, Texas’s 35th Congressional District, 2013–23, and Texas’s 37th Congressional District, 2023–Present.
- Wayne Gilchrest, Maryland’s 1st Congressional District, 1991–2009.
- Stephen Lynch, Massachusetts’s 9th Congressional District, 2001–13, and Massachusetts’s 8th Congressional District, 2013 – Present.
- Frank Pallone, New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, 1988–93, and New Jersey’s 6thCongressional District, 1993–Present.
- Bennie Thompson, Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District, 1993–Present.
- Nydia Velázquez, New York’s 12th Congressional District, 1993–2013, and New York’s 7th Congressional District, 2013–Present.
