Manhattan’s federal court judges on Monday retained Jay Clayton as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, a victory for President Trump, who had named him to lead the office temporarily after his Senate confirmation was blocked.
Mr. Clayton’s appointment will last until a Senate-confirmed candidate can be installed to run what has been the country’s most prestigious prosecutor’s office. In practical terms, the decision means he may end up serving for the duration of the Trump administration; New York’s senior Democratic senator, Chuck Schumer, has said he would stop Mr. Clayton’s confirmation.
The federal court announced Mr. Clayton’s appointment in a brief statement that offered no elaboration on issues the judges might have discussed or whether the decision was unanimous.
Mr. Clayton, although never a prosecutor, had been a longtime corporate lawyer at the firm Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, and during Mr. Trump’s first term he also served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates financial markets.
President Trump originally nominated Mr. Clayton as U.S. attorney in January, but after Mr. Schumer’s blocking action in April, the president appointed him on an interim basis for a 120-day term that expires this month. Once an interim U.S. attorney’s term runs out, the federal court for that district has the power to fill the vacancy.
The court’s decision comes as independent institutions like universities and law firms have been met with demands by the Trump administration for changes in policies and for large financial payments, leading to settlements or litigation. Federal judges, too, have confronted the administration, inside courtrooms and, occasionally, over Mr. Trump’s selections to run U.S. attorney’s offices.
After federal judges in New Jersey and upstate New York refused to continue the interim terms of top prosecutors named by Mr. Trump, the administration found ways to keep the president’s choices in their posts.
Mr. Clayton has kept a low profile since taking office in April, typically issuing statements only after verdicts or guilty pleas.
He came under criticism last month after the Trump administration fired Maurene Comey, a career Southern District prosecutor who had worked on the sex-trafficking cases of Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Ms. Comey helped win the conviction of Ms. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Ms. Comey is also the daughter of James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director and Trump critic. Mr. Trump fired Mr. Comey during his first term.
The New York Times reported last month that Mr. Clayton was blindsided by Ms. Comey’s firing. He has not publicly commented on the episode.
Two former Southern District prosecutors, in an essay in The Contrarian, criticized Mr. Clayton for his silence on Ms. Comey’s dismissal.
Benjamin Weiser is a Times reporter covering the federal courts and U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, and the justice system more broadly.
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