Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 53. Sunrise is 6:59 and sunset is 7:06 for 12 hours 7 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 0.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.
On this day in 2003, Pres. George W. Bush addresses the nation, announcing the invasion of Iraq.
A little over a week ago, a judicial panel decided not to extend Brad Schimel’s tenure as U.S. Attorney. This libertarian blogger wrote at the time that it was “possible, of course, that the Trump Administration [would] attempt a circumvention to keep Schimel in the role.” And so they have:
Brad Schimel, the former Wisconsin Attorney General, will continue to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Wisconsin under a new title, the U.S. Justice Department announced.
Schimel had been interim U.S. Attorney, but that appointment expired on March 16. Schimel could have been made the U.S. Attorney by the district’s judges, but they declined to do so, opting not to insert themselves into the process.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Schimel as First Assistant United States Attorney, announcing the move March 18.
The position is traditionally the number two in the office, but Schimel will lead the office and the position of the U.S. Attorney will remain vacant.
[…]Previous First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling will continue to serve in an executive position, according to a release.
The move by the Justice Department mirrors what has happened in a couple of other federal districts, where the office is run by a Trump-appointed person with the title of First Assistant U.S. Attorney.
That move happened in the Western District of Virginia, where Robert Rracci [sic — should be Tracci] is now the first assistant.
In the Central District of California, the biggest federal district in the nation, Bilal A. Essayli has been running the office as first assistant since late last year. That happened after a federal judge ruled that Essayli could not legally continue as acting U.S. Attorney, but wrote that he may lead the office as first assistant.
See John Diedrich and Jessie Opoien, Brad Schimel to continue leading US Attorney’s office under new title, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 18, 2026.
In this case, the United States Department of Justice (but truly the Trump White House, as we no longer have an independent Justice Department) has simply moved everyone down one level, and… the normal appointment process has been circumvented.
Schimel is sure to be happy with this; after losing his reelection bid as Wisconsin Attorney General and a subsequent Wisconsin Supreme Court race, he will take whatever work he can get on the public tab.
As always, this reminder about the Trump Administration: if they’d like you to join, it should be a reminder that something’s gone wrong with your career.
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, a judge throws prosecutor out of court and orders leaders of NJ’s US Attorney’s office to testify: