Residency Clause Adds Fuel to Dispute Over US Attorneys

On November 10, 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sent a letter to a federal judge in Montana assuring him that the US attorney there, William Mercer, was not violating federal law by spending most of his time in Washington as a senior Justice Department official. That same day, Mercer had a GOP Senate staffer insert into a bill a provision that would change the rules so that federal prosecutors could live outside their districts to serve in other jobs. Congress passed the provision several months later as part of the USA Patriot Act reauthorization bill, retroactively benefiting Mercer and a handful of other senior Justice Department officials who pull double duty as US attorneys and headquarters officials.
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