Jamie McDonald has assumed the role of United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Earlier today, Judge Laura Taylor Swain, Chief District Judge for the Southern District of New York, informed the Office that the Court has appointed Mr. McDonald to serve as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 546(d), upon U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton’s resignation. Yesterday, Mr. Clayton was confirmed by the Senate to serve as Director of National Intelligence. Mr. Clayton tendered his resignation as U.S. Attorney, effective earlier today. Mr. McDonald was sworn in as the U.S. Attorney by Chief Judge Swain.
Sean S. Buckley will continue in his role as Deputy United States Attorney, Amanda Houle will continue in her role as Chief of the Criminal Division, and Jeff Oestericher will continue in his role as Chief of the Civil Division as contemplated in the transition announcement of July 8, 2026.
Mr. McDonald previously served in the Office as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division until 2017. In that role, Mr. McDonald participated in significant organized crime, white collar, and violent crimes prosecutions, including those of senior members of the Genovese Organized Crime Family; the sitting New York State Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver; and a 48-defendant rival street gangs case.
From 2017 to 2020, Mr. McDonald served as the Director of Enforcement at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where he had overall responsibility for all aspects of the CFTC’s enforcement program, including its investigations, litigations, and market surveillance activities. Under his leadership, the agency prioritized cases involving market manipulation, other forms of market abuse, and fraud, as well as the pursuit of parallel actions with the Department of Justice. Notably, during the last year of Mr. McDonald’s time at the CFTC, the agency brought an unprecedented number of enforcement actions.
Following his tenure at the Southern District of New York and the CFTC, Mr. McDonald served as a Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP where he was Co-Head of both the firm’s Securities & Commodities Investigations Practice and its Commodities, Futures and Derivatives Group. While at Sullivan & Cromwell, Mr. McDonald also served as an Adviser to the American Law Institute’s Principles of Compliance, Risk Management, and Enforcement. Mr. McDonald previously served as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School and as a Senior Fellow at New York University Law School’s Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement.
Earlier in his career, Mr. McDonald served as a law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. From 2008 to 2009, Mr. McDonald served as a Deputy Associate Counsel in the Office of the White House Counsel.
Originally from Oklahoma, Mr. McDonald graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and from Harvard College.