Judges Won’t Extend Schimel’s U.S. Attorney Appointment

Brad Schimel. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel will not continue as the top federal prosecutor in eastern Wisconsin.

In November, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Schimel interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin for a period of 120 days. Under federal law, a majority of judges in the district can vote to extend the interim appointment until the vacancy is formally filled.

Chief Judge for the Eastern District Pamela Pepper‘s office issued a notice Tuesday that a majority of judges in the district have declined to exercise their authority to extend Schimel’s interim term. Instead, they’re waiting for the role to be formally filled on a full-time basis. U.S. attorneys must be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Schimel’s term will expire on March 17.

“In doing so, the Court intends no criticism or commentary on the performance or qualifications of the Interim United States Attorney or any of the attorneys in the United States Attorney’s Office,” according to the statement. “To the credit of that office, from the Court’s perspective, it has continued to represent the citizens of this district well.”

The Trump administration previously used an interim nomination to install Trump’s personal attorney Alina Habba as U.S. attorney for New Jersey. Habba stayed on beyond her 120-day interim tenure, and a federal judge ruled in August that Habba was “unlawfully” working as U.S. Attorney.

Schimel, who has previously run for office as a Republican, served four terms as Waukesha County district attorney and one term as Wisconsin attorney general. From 2018 until his appointment last year, he served as a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge.

Schimel’s appointment was criticized by Wisconsin’s Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who charged that the Trump administration was sidestepping a bipartisan nominating commission used to appoint U.S. attorneys in Wisconsin. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican, said at the time that the commission could not agree on candidates and that he hoped the district would vote to “make Brad’s appointment last for the length of President Trump’s term.”

In Wisconsin, U.S. attorneys have been nominated by the bipartisan Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission since it was established in 1979 by then-Sens. William Proxmire and Gaylord Nelson. Sen. Tammy Baldwin charges that the Trump administration is sidestepping the commission established by her and Sen. Ron Johnson at the start of the 119th Congress. congress.

Recently, Baldwin released a statement arguing against extending Schimel’s appointment and calling for the commission to resume searching for a candidate. “I never thought a clearly partisan actor like Brad Schimel should be a top federal prosecutor in our state to begin with, and he certainly shouldn’t get an extension for this job,” Baldwin said.

As U.S. attorney, Schimel oversees federal criminal investigations and prosecutions. He came into the office just a month before the high-profile prosecution of former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan went to trial. Dugan was criminally charged for obstructing a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation and concealing an individual from arrest. The office secured a conviction on one count of obstruction of a federal deportation proceeding and not guilty on one count of concealing an individual from arrest.