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US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions is seeking the resignations of 46 United States attorneys who were appointed during previous administrations, the Justice Department says.
Many of the federal prosecutors who were nominated by former US president Barack Obama have already left their positions, but the nearly 48 who stayed on in the first weeks of the Trump administration have been asked to leave "in order to ensure a uniform transition", Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said.
"Until the new US attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our US attorney's offices will continue the great work of the department in investigating, prosecuting and deterring the most violent offenders," she said in a statement.
US attorney in the state of Montana, Mike Cotter, said he received a phone call from Acting US Deputy Attorney-General Dana Boente telling him "the President has directed this".
"I think it's very unprofessional and I'm very disappointed," he said.
"What happened today on Friday, March 10, that was so important that all Obama appointees who are US attorneys need to be gone?"
It is customary for the country's 93 US attorneys to leave their positions once a new president is in office, but the departures are not automatic.
Tim Purdon, a former US attorney for North Dakota in the Obama administration, recalled that Mr Obama permitted Bush appointees to remain on until their successors had been appointed and confirmed.
"The way the Obama administration handled it was appropriate and respectful and classy," he said.
"This saddens me because many of these people are great public servants and now they are being asked to leave."
US attorneys are federal prosecutors who are nominated by the president, generally upon the recommendation of a home-state senator, and are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the territories they oversee.
They report to Justice Department leadership in Washington, and their priorities are expected to be in line with those of the Attorney-General.
It was not immediately clear when each of the prosecutors would resign, or if they all actually will.
And the request for resignations does not necessarily mean Mr Sessions plans to accept all of them.
Questions raised about Trump transition team's vetting process
US President Donald Trump's transition team learned before the inauguration that incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn might register with the government as a foreign agent, White House officials acknowledged on Friday.
The disclosure suggests that Trump transition lawyers did not view Mr Flynn's lobbying work for a Turkish businessman as a liability for an official who serves as the president's closest adviser on security and international affairs.
It also raises new questions about whether Mr Trump's transition team, and later his White House lawyers, fully vetted Mr Flynn.
Mr Flynn's registration this week with the Justice Department disclosed lobbying by him and his firm that may have benefited the government of Turkey.
The resignation came amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates' potential contacts with Russia.
The FBI is investigating, as are House and Senate intelligence committees.
Mr Flynn registered with the Justice Department on Tuesday, citing $530,000 worth of lobbying.
His work on behalf of a company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin occurred at the same time he was advising Mr Trump's presidential campaign.
AP/Reuters
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, government-and-politics, united-states