A 2026 ruling ordered retroactive reinstatement and back pay for Maurene Comey.
Why it matters: The decision addresses presidential removal power over assistant U.S. attorneys, not federal employees generally. It resolves Comey's principal removal claims while leaving her First Amendment claim and monetary amounts for later proceedings.
- On October 26, 2026, Judge Jesse M. Furman ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully removed Comey as an assistant U.S. attorney.
- The court ordered retroactive reinstatement and back pay from July 16, 2025, through December 20, 2025.
- The Justice Department acknowledged that Comey was not fired for cause or performance; she received outstanding ratings from 2019 through 2024.
- The court ordered supplemental briefing by November 9, 2026, on Comey's unresolved First Amendment claim.
U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman ruled on October 26, 2026, that the Justice Department unlawfully fired Maurene Comey from her position in the Southern District of New York. The court granted judgment on her principal removal-related claims under separation-of-powers, administrative-law, due-process and statutory theories.
Comey's firing took effect immediately on July 16, 2025. The department said the removal was authorized by Article II of the Constitution and federal law. It also acknowledged that the decision was not based on cause or performance; Comey received outstanding performance ratings from 2019 through 2024, according to CBS News' account of the department's concessions.
Furman held that Congress may impose limits and procedural protections on the removal of assistant U.S. attorneys, who report to a principal officer removable by the president. He rejected the administration's argument that Article II gave the president unrestricted authority to remove federal prosecutors, writing that the position “flies in the face of nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent.”
The remedy is retroactive rather than a return to federal work. Comey had worked in the Southern District of New York for nearly a decade, accepted a private-sector job by December 20, 2025, and did not seek to resume active federal service. The order uses reinstatement as the legal status supporting back pay for the period from July 16, 2025, through December 20, 2025. A final determination of back pay, costs and attorneys' fees has not been made.
The court left Comey's First Amendment claim unresolved and set November 9, 2026, as the deadline for supplemental briefing on that claim. The principal judgment on her removal-related claims is therefore distinct from the remaining constitutional claim and monetary determinations.
By the numbers
- Nearly a decade - Comey's length of service in the Southern District of New York
- July 16 to December 20, 2025 - period covered by the back-pay order
- November 9, 2026 - deadline for supplemental briefing on the First Amendment claim
Yes, but: The materials do not identify an appeal, stay or other post-ruling challenge. The final amounts for back pay, costs and attorneys' fees also remain unresolved.
What's next: The parties must file supplemental briefs by November 9, 2026, on Comey's First Amendment claim. The court must also determine back pay, costs and attorneys' fees.