Oregon U.S. Attorney Natalie Wight was fired by the White House on Tuesday as President Donald Trump vowed to continue his reshaping of the U.S. Department of Justice.
“I want to thank our Oregon communities and our exceptional public servants for helping to keep Oregon a safe and beautiful place to live,” Wight said in a statement. “I am immensely proud to have worked side by side with such dedicated Oregonians.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon referred to Wight as the “former U.S. Attorney” in its announcement of the news.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Natalie Wight as the next U.S. Attorney for Oregon on September 8, 2022.
Oregon's U.S. Attorney's Office
Wight, like all U.S. attorneys, was a presidential appointee. It’s typical for incoming administrations to request the resignations for most, if not all, U.S. attorneys appointed by the former president.
In this case, it appears they were fired en masse by the sitting president.
Earlier Tuesday, President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that he had “instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys.”
“We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence,” Trump added. “America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System - THAT BEGINS TODAY!”
Wight was highly respected by her colleagues and became the top federal law enforcement official for the state after years as a federal prosecutor.
Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, a federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., July, 2023.
Caden Perry / OPB
She was confirmed as U.S. attorney for Oregon by the U.S. Senate in September 2022. Under Wight’s tenure, she prioritized fentanyl enforcement and partnerships with local police and sheriffs. She was also the first Black person and the second Asian American to serve as the district’s U.S. attorney.
Wight grew up in Oregon and graduated from Cleveland High School in Portland before obtaining her law degree from the University of Notre Dame.
She has spent her career working for the federal government, first as a lawyer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons before becoming a federal prosecutor in California. In 2012, Wight became an assistant U.S. attorney in Oregon, where she worked on both civil and criminal prosecutions.
“I am proud of the Office’s dedication to protecting Oregon’s youth, supporting law enforcement, and maintaining strong agency partnerships,” Wright said in a statement that announced her departure.