Two US Attorneys Replaced By President Trump In Upstate New York

While the new President of the Untied States has only been in office around a month, we've seen a whole lot of change happen around the nation over the last 5 or so weeks. Since the President took office on January 20, 2025, we've seen quite a few actions taken by the Executive Branch of the federal government. While it's not unusual for a new President to make changes to the government, what we've seen over the last few weeks might be described as unprecedented.

In addition to cutting billions from the federal budget and firing thousands of federal workers, it seems the President has also moved to change who is responsible for enforcing federal law in New York State.

According to the Rochester Business Journal, US Attorney for the Western District of New York Trini E. Ross has been removed from officer and since replaced by her deputy US AttorneyJoel L. Violanti.

Former US Attorney Ross, who was the first Black woman to hold this position in New York, assumed office in 2021 after being confirmed by the US Senate in a unanimous vote on September 30, 2021, and is responsible for prosecuting some big cases for the Buffalo area. They include sex trafficking and drugs cases that impacted the Buffalo area.

This isn't the only change in federal law enforcement in New York as Carla B. Freedman, who was the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of New York has also left office. According to the Albany Times Union, former US Attorney Freedman was removed from her position around 9pm on Monday, February 17, 2025, and has been replaced by Freedman's deputy, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Hanlon.

Freedman was the first woman to hold the position of U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of New York when she was appointed by former President Biden in 2021.

Both Freedman and Ross' removal were amount nearly 2 dozen US Attorneys' who loss their jobs this month.