President Trump demanded immediate Senate action on his Trump Manhattan US Attorney pick, James "Jamie" McDonald, while he was at the G7 in France on June 17, 2026. He said McDonald "must be confirmed" to lead the Southern District of New York.
Trump also said he did not want to move Jay Clayton out of his current job until McDonald was in place. Clayton has been tapped by Trump to become the next director of national intelligence, tying the two nominations together inside the same confirmation track.
McDonald at Sullivan & Cromwell
McDonald has worked at Sullivan & Cromwell since 2021, and Trump described him as a former federal prosecutor and regulator. That background matters because the office he would lead has long been tied to Wall Street enforcement, and Sullivan & Cromwell is headquartered in Manhattan with more than a dozen offices across the globe.
Trump said on Saturday that McDonald "will deliver strong results for our Country." On Wednesday, he added: "I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don't want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place".
Senate review and independence
Democratic Senate sources told CBS News that questions about McDonald's ability to maintain prosecutorial independence could play a central role in confirmation review. That puts the focus on whether senators see his work at Sullivan & Cromwell as a strength, or as a reason to scrutinize how he would run the Southern District of New York.
John Catsimatidis said, "Sullivan & Cromwell is one of the great institutions in our city". Robert Giuffra, the firm's managing partner, was at one point considered a contender to be Trump's attorney general during his second term, according to sources familiar with the transition.
Clayton and the next step
The practical question now sits with Republican senators: whether they move McDonald's nomination quickly enough to let Trump shift Clayton into the intelligence job. If they do not, Trump has already said he wants Clayton to stay where he is until McDonald takes over the Southern District of New York.
That leaves McDonald in the center of a pair of linked appointments, with the confirmation process for one nominee shaping the timing of the other. The immediate test is whether Senate Republicans act on the pace Trump demanded, or let the review proceed at its own speed.
