Trump administration takes Chattah appointment fight to Supreme Court

The Trump administration has taken the case of whether Sigal Chattah can legally serve as Nevada’s top federal prosecutor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A federal appellate court in August ruled that Chattah’s appointment to the position was illegal. The Trump administration appealed that ruling in a filing with the nation’s highest court on Tuesday.

In the petition, known as a writ of certiorari, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals erred when it ruled Chattah was unlawfully appointed by the Trump administration.

Sauer argued that, after transitions between presidential administrations, executive branch offices requiring Senate confirmation often lack a first assistant already in place and available to serve. He said agency heads have long addressed that problem by appointing a new first assistant after a vacancy arises and allowing that person to serve in an acting capacity.

“The Executive Branch has several well-established alternatives to ensure that the functions and duties of the vacant Senate-confirmed office continue to be performed,” the government argued in the filing.

Chattah has been serving in her role under the title of first assistant U.S. attorney. Opposition from Nevada’s Democratic senators was expected to prevent her from winning Senate confirmation, so the Trump administration appointed her as an interim last year. This gave her 120 days to serve in the position.

As the deadline approached, Chattah resigned and was reappointed under different titles, including special assistant to the U.S. attorney general.

Her extension was challenged by federal public defenders representing three defendants who had been indicted by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Ninth Circuit Judge Eric Miller, a Trump appointee, wrote the opinion that previously disqualified Chattah.

“These cases presented the question whether the Attorney General can make someone an Acting U.S. Attorney — bypassing the usual requirement that a U.S. Attorney be confirmed by the Senate — by designating that person as the first assistant to an already-vacant office of U.S. Attorney,” Miller wrote. “The panel held that the Attorney General cannot do so.”

In February, Trump nominated Las Vegas attorney George Kelesis to be the U.S. attorney. That nomination is still pending in the Senate.

A request for comment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada was pending Friday morning.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.