U.S. Attorney Cunha Steps Down Early on Trump’s Order

PROVIDENCE, RI — U.S. Attorney  Zachary A. Cunha informed President Donald Trump he planned to step down Friday, but the president directed him to leave Monday instead, which automatically moved First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom into the Acting U.S. Attorney role replacing him.

Cunha sent his letter of resignation to the President and the Attorney General on Feb. 7, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Cunha made the following statement:

“I am deeply grateful to Senators Reed and Whitehouse for recommending my nomination to the White House, and to President Biden for his trust and confidence in appointing me to serve this extraordinary District and its citizens as United States Attorney.  I have worked hard every day to live up to the example of excellence set by my thirty-eight distinguished predecessors over the 235-year history of this Office, and it has been the honor of my career to do this job.             

Over the three years that I have had the high privilege to serve as U.S. Attorney, it has been my constant goal to make sure that the work of this District punched far above the weight that our compact geography and small staff might imply.  By every measure, the men and women of this Office have met that goal, again and again, across every category in which we prosecute and litigate on behalf of the people of the Ocean State. 

In the face of a persistent opioid crisis, and the scourge of fentanyl that has cost countless lives, this Office prosecuted the largest illegal pill seizure in the United States, and brought suit against the nation’s largest pharmacy chain for creating a culture of noncompliance that allowed countless improper opioid prescriptions to flow out into our communities.  Recognizing the complexity of this crisis, we have prosecuted criminals who prey on our neighbors struggling in recovery, while at the same time partnering with public health authorities to make sure that those same vulnerable victims have access to the care they need, and we have worked tirelessly to present an innovative, effective, and impactful anti-opioids education program in schools and community settings across Rhode Island. 

At the same time, we have worked relentlessly to bring fraudsters to justice, because their crimes have devastating impacts on our family, friends, neighbors, towns and businesses.  We have likewise remained focused on holding businesses and corporations who commit crimes accountable, and have worked to protect the federal taxpayer from fraud, waste, and abuse, including by ensuring that those who serve our nation in uniform are not put at risk by shoddy and counterfeit gear.   And, because every American deserves safe and secure communities, we have taken a firm stand against violent crime, bringing the serious charges against those responsible for bringing the most deadly illegal weapons into our communities, while proceeding with resolve and fierce determination against those who prey on our most vulnerable community members: our children.

This Office’s civil rights work stood up to ensure that every Rhode Islander can access fair lending and to ensure that children with behavioral disabilities have the chance to receive care in their communities, rather than spending months of isolation in a locked hospital ward; and we have stood resolute against acts of hatred and violence directed against our communities of faith, race, or ethnicity, while hosting more than fifteen United Against Hate conversations with over 800 of our fellow citizens across the state. 

In these, and countless other areas, the men and women of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island exemplify excellence in public service: acting always with integrity, in the best traditions of this Office and the Department of Justice, and driven by precisely those qualities that Attorney General Robert H. Jackson impeccably distilled, over eight decades ago, as the defining traits of a first-rate prosecutor: the ability to “temper[] zeal with human kindness, [the determination to] seek[] truth and not victims, [the unwavering commitment to] . . . serve[] the law and not factional purposes, and[, above all] [a resolution to] approach[] [the] task with humility.”^[1]

I am profoundly proud of their work, and deeply humbled to have served with them.”

“Mr. Cunha served Rhode Islanders honorably, and I am grateful for his principled dedication to the law,” said U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-RI) on Twitter.

Cunha U.S. Attorney service: A Brief History

Cunha took the oath of office as United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island on December 13, 2021, following his nomination by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and confirmation by the United States Senate.  During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, he was also honored to be named to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, where he served alongside a small group of colleagues from across the nation who advised the Department’s senior leadership on matters of policy.

Cunha devoted the past twenty years of his career to public service with the Department of Justice, beginning as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), before serving in the District of Massachusetts, and, for more than a decade, in the District of Rhode Island.  In the course of his DOJ service before being appointed U.S. Attorney, he was named Chief of the Civil Division in the District of Rhode Island, and Chief and Deputy Chief of Affirmative Civil Enforcement in the District of Massachusetts, where he focused on civil and criminal health care fraud matters, litigation under the federal False Claims Act, and representation of the federal government’s interests at both the trial and appellate level.  He began his legal career on September 10, 2001, when he was sworn in as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, representing the City and its officers in litigation in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.  He is a graduate of Brown University (A.B., with honors, 1998) and the George Washington University Law School (J.D., with honors, 2001).