Trump appoints Kelly Hayes as interim U.S. attorney for Maryland
Brooke Conrad
The Baltimore Sun
March 3, 2025
Prosecutor Kelly Hayes has been appointed interim U.S. attorney for Maryland after first joining the office in 2013, according to a news release from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“I have spent over a decade witnessing the incredible and impactful work my colleagues do every day, and I am beyond honored to lead this Office as we continue to serve and protect the people of Maryland and the United States,” Hayes said in the email.
She said she’s confident the Maryland office will work “tirelessly and zealously to combat criminal activity that harms the people of the United States.”
“I thank the President and the Attorney General [Pam Bondi] for placing their confidence in me. It is the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role,” Hayes said.
Former Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, who served as Trump’s deputy attorney general during his first term, described the decision as a “superb appointment by President Trump and Attorney General Bondi.”
“A brilliant lawyer with great integrity, Kelly will restore morale and rebuild federal law enforcement in Maryland after indictments plunged to a record low, falling from 1,012 in 2011 to just 461 in 2023,” Rosenstein said in an email.
Hayes was appointed chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Southern Division for the District of Maryland in 2021. A news release announcing her appointment at the time said that, in her previous work as an assistant U.S. attorney, Hayes had coordinated identity theft and health care fraud prosecutions, and prosecuted a variety of cases, including “carjacking, Hobbs Act robbery, production of child pornography, wire, bank and health care fraud, as well as fatal overdoses.”
Kelly graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland, College Park, and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The White House and the U.S. attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment about who might take the position following the interim appointment or whether Hayes might be appointed and go before the Senate for approval.
It’s not common to have an interim U.S. attorney serve all four years of a presidential term, said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond School of Law professor. Traditionally, the first assistant U.S. attorney takes over during the transition period, and then the president formally nominates someone, followed by a Senate confirmation vote, he said.
It’s possible Hayes could serve as a “placeholder” or later be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, Tobias said.
“That’s the tradition — not to have interim people — but sometimes you can’t avoid that,” he said. He added that it can be more difficult working with the U.S. Department of Justice as an interim appointee than as one confirmed by the Senate.
The offices of Maryland’s two U.S. Senators, Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen — both Democrats — did not respond to requests for comment about whom they would support for U.S. attorney if a nominee were brought before the Senate.
Prior to Hayes’ appointment, Phil Selden served as acting U.S. attorney. He previously served as first assistant U.S. attorney.
Others who have expressed interest in the Maryland U.S. Attorney position include Dan Cox, a former Republican state delegate who Trump endorsed for his 2022 gubernatorial run, and Andrew White, who represented former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh amid her federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges. Cox did not respond to a request for comment, and White declined comment.
In Maryland, Cox previously stirred controversy for questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election. He previously told The Sun that having “transparent” elections is important and wants to ensure “everyone knows that their rights to vote will be upheld equally.”
It’s possible Cox “might be controversial for Democratic Senators and might give them some heartburn,” Tobias said.
Hayes’ appointment comes shortly after Erek Barron resigned from the position. Barron was Maryland’s first Black U.S. attorney and the first Democrat presidentially appointed to the position in two decades.