Nassau Family Court Judge Joseph Nocella Jr. sworn in as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced the appointment on Monday of Nassau Family Court Judge Joseph Nocella Jr. as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, an end run around Sen. Chuck Schumer, who sought to block the judge’s nomination.

Nocella, 60, was sworn in Monday afternoon by Chief District Judge Margo Brodie in a private ceremony, John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District, said.

"I am deeply honored that President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pamela Bondi have appointed me United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York," Nocella said in a statement. "It is especially gratifying to return to the very district where I began my prosecutorial career ... I look forward to prosecuting zealously the narcotics-traffickers, gang members, terrorists, human-traffickers and other criminals who have plagued the people of Nassau, Suffolk, Kings, Queens and Richmond Counties."

The announcement puts to bed speculation that Nocella’s appointment to the role was in jeopardy.

In January, Trump posted a message on Truth Social endorsing the judge, a longtime Nassau County Republican stalwart, to be the chief federal prosecutor in the Eastern District.

Schumer, a New York Democrat, who had taken on withering criticism for helping push through a Republican government funding bill, posted on social media that he would block the appointment of Nocella and the Southern District of New York appointment of Jay Clayton, who served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the first Trump administration.

"I will not let the Senate move forward on President Trump’s nominees for U.S. Attorney for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York," Schumer said on X at the end of April.

The president has the authority to appoint all 93 federal prosecutors; however, under an obscure Senate rule, federal prosecutor nominees must get a response on a blue form from the home state senator before their appointment can proceed.

Schumer said that he would not return the blue slip for Clayton or Nocella.

"Donald Trump has made clear he has no fidelity to the law and intends to use the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney offices and law enforcement as weapons to go after his perceived enemies," Schumer said in his social media post. "Such blatant and depraved political motivations are deeply corrosive to the rule of law and leaves me deeply skeptical of Donald Trump's intentions for these important positions. For that reason, I will not return the blue slip for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York."

In the event of a vacancy in a federal prosecutor’s office, the attorney general also has the authority to appoint an interim U.S. attorney, without Senate approval.

Last week, Bondi appointed Clayton to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan on an interim basis, but did not tap Nocella to the Eastern District office. This set off a swirl of speculation that the judge’s nomination was not going to happen and the acting officeholder John Durham would remain in the position.

Nocella gave a nod to Durham after being sworn in.

 "I would also like to thank Acting United States Attorney John J. Durham for his service and leadership," he said in a statement. 

Under federal law, interim appointments can remain in office for 120 days, or until the Senate approves a nominee, however, if not approval is forthcoming, the judges in the district can vote to approve the officeholder to be the permanent officeholder.

The U.S. attorney’s appointment lasts four years.

Schumer did not respond to calls for comment.

Nocella, who graduated from Columbia Law School in 1989, and worked in private practice before becoming a federal prosecutor for the Eastern District from 1991 to 1995.

He served in private practice in New York and California from 1995 to 2010, but also worked in local government beginning in 2006.

He led the Nassau County Attorney's Office and was counsel to County Executive Edward Mangano from 2011 to 2014. He was counsel to the Office of Housing and Community Development from 2014 to 2017. He also served as the Oyster Bay town attorney from 2017 until 2020. He was the Hempstead town supervisor, chief of staff and town attorney after that until 2022 when he became an acting judge. He was elected to the Nassau County Family Court in the fall of 2024.