According to the Washington Post, Flores said that until new U.S. attorneys are confirmed, the career prosecutors in the nation’s 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices will oversee cases.

In Montana, Cotter said assistant U.S. attorneys, who are career employees and not political appointees, will manage the case work until a new leader is confirmed.

Cotter met with staff in the Helena office on Friday, but said he’s discouraged that he won’t have the time to make the rounds to the other offices in the state.

“I am not going to be able to see and visit with people and say goodbye,” he said. “I will truly miss this job and working with the prosecutors and agents in the field.”

Cotter was confirmed by the Senate in December 2009 after President Barack Obama nominated him on the recommendation of Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus, both members of the president's party. Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, will recommend candidates for the Montana job to his fellow Republican, President Trump.

Throughout his tenure, Cotter said he has placed an emphasis on prosecution of violent crime, a goal he said was shared under Obama's two attorneys general. On a conference call with Sessions on Wednesday, Cotter said he had reaffirmed that commitment.