An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the

federal government of the United States The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

in civil and appellate litigation and in federal criminal prosecutions. Assistant U.S. attorneys working in their office's criminal section are often called federal prosecutors. AUSAs are rarely hired directly out of law school and often have significant experience before entering the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Personnel and duties

AUSAs are career civil servants. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice employed approximately 5,800 AUSAs. As of 2022, there were approximately 6,300 AUSAs.Jory Heckman
Federal attorneys group urges DOJ to fix pay disparity, set new policy for telework
Federal News Network (January 26, 2022). The various U.S. Attorney's Offices vary significantly in size and in number of AUSAs employed. For example, approximately 280 AUSAs work at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, which covers the Los Angeles area (the largest DOJ office outside Washington). By contrast, approximately 62 AUSAs work at the U.S. Attorney's Office for

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Some AUSAs are criminal prosecutors, while others represent the U.S. government in civil litigation. Many AUSAs, after spending some time working for the Justice Department, return to the private practice of law. Other AUSAs work in the role until retirement. As of 2020, the longest-serving AUSA nationwide had worked for 50 years in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. The oldest-serving AUSA, who worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark, died in 2019 at age 89; she had chosen to continue working long after others decided to retire.Lorraine Gerson, Federal Prosecutor for 4 Decades, Dead at 89
''New Jersey Law Journal'' (January 8, 2019). The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys (NAAUSA) is the

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

for AUSAs. NAAUSA represents the interests of AUSAs, pressing DOJ and Congress for higher pay for AUSAs (whose salaries are low compared to private lawyers) and more telework opportunities.Jared Serbu
Federal trial attorneys want a bit more telework flexibility
Federal News Network (June 13, 2022). NAAUSA has also targeted the pay disparity between AUSAs and trial attorneys at Main Justice; the latter tend to be paid more than the former. , AUSAs earned a starting base salary of $55,204, which may be significantly adjusted for their local cost of living and increases with years of experience up to a maximum of $176,200.

Special Assistant United States Attorney

Federal law authorizes the attorney general to appoint special assistant U.S. attorneys, known as SAUSAs, "to assist United States attorneys when the public interest so requires." The "SAUSA" designation is sometimes granted to state prosecutors (such as assistant state attorneys general) working alongside federal prosecutors on various investigations and prosecutions. In addition to designating non-federal employees, the SAUSA designation is also given to federal lawyers employed by non-DOJ agencies, such as the

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

, or

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, who work alongside AUSAs because of their expertise. They are paid by that agency and seconded to a United States Attorney's Office for a set period of time. This designation may also be given to an AUSA who is seconded to a different district or from Main Justice to a specific office. Appointing local prosecutors or enforcement attorneys to assist in a joint investigation and prosecution has been criticized for having the potential for conflicts of interest, selective and vindictive prosecution, as well as dual and successive prosecution. Uncompensated SAUSAs can also be unpaid volunteers; they have the same duties as AUSAs, but receive no salary. These roles are typically held by young lawyers seeking to establish "professional credibility".

References

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