HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Ousted in a purge of President Barack Obama appointees, U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly spent the weekend clearing out her office, receiving calls from well-wishers and making tearful farewells. Then, on Sunday night, she learned she would be staying.
Daly, the top federal law enforcement official for the district of Connecticut, is among a small number of career prosecutors who were given more time to reach service anniversaries that are important for retirement benefits.
They now enter lame-duck periods in which experts say they can be just as effective but may not have as much latitude.
“It feels a bit like I’ve risen from the dead,” Daly said in an interview. “I don’t at all feel diminished by this. If anything, I feel I’ve received a lot of support for which I am tremendously grateful.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Republican, on Friday requested the resignations of 46 remaining U.S. attorneys who had been nominated by Obama. It’s fairly customary for the 93 U.S. attorneys to leave their posts once a new president is in office, and many had already left or were making plans for their departures.