Exit interview: Jacqueline Romero

Among the many federal prosecutors who abruptly left U.S. attorneys’ offices this week was Philadelphia’s Jacqueline Romero, a two-decade veteran of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania – and, since her appointment as U.S. attorney by President Joe Biden in 2022, Southeastern Pennsylvania’s chief federal law enforcement officer.

On Monday, Romero announced that she was leaving the office; she declined to specify whether she had resigned. This announcement came as President Donald Trump ordered the dismissal of all U.S. attorneys who were still serving from the Biden administration in order to “clean house,” as he stated on his Truth Social platform. (The top federal prosecutors in New York and Washington, D.C., are also among those who resigned over the past week, both citing their refusal to comply with inappropriate directives from the Trump administration.)

Romero, who worked her way up through various roles at the Eastern District, was a pioneer long before she tackled high-profile federal cases like that of John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, the politically connected Philadelphia labor leader convicted in 2024 by her office on charges of bribery and embezzlement.

The granddaughter of a Spanish fisherman who sailed to America at 16, the youngest of five children, and the first in her family to go to college, Romero became the first woman and the first LGBTQ-identified person to hold the position of U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District. Overseeing a nine-county region, she led a 140-attorney Philadelphia-headquartered office that prosecutes high-level corruption, violent crimes, trafficking, fraud and other federal offenses.

This interview, conducted by email, has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Looking back over your time with the Eastern District, what are you most proud of?

I am most proud of our community engagement efforts – not “outreach,” which tends to be a one-and-done-effort, but true community engagement, which requires consistency. It requires having difficult conversations, being accountable, being transparent, and making constant efforts to build relationships. My team showed up again and again – and the community took notice. We created the type of Department of Justice that is welcome at the community table.

On a similar note, I’m proud of how we collaborated with our law enforcement partners; our relationships have never been better. You can go through my press releases and see that most cases were worked by multiple agencies – ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), FBI, IRS, SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), DEA (the Drug Enforcement Administration). We shared intelligence, followed the money and brought focused, data-driven prosecutions designed to root out the worst drivers of violence in our community – and seize the profits of their criminal behavior. 

For example, when carjackings were overwhelming the district, we quickly stood up a task force and tackled that problem, often uncovering sophisticated criminal organizations laundering large amounts of money. When fentanyl was claiming lives, we collaborated with DEA through its Operation Overdrive – while also going after doctors and pharmacists acting as pill mills, tracking the importation of harmful additive drugs like xylazine, holding pharmaceutical companies accountable for their failure to flag suspicious sales, and following the movement of laundered money through banks. 

That amount of effort requires true partnership and communication between all law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Attorney sets the tone for those relationships.

What was the most challenging aspect of your role helming the U.S. Attorney's Office?

The U.S. Attorney is the convenor of all federal law enforcement agencies in their district, the gatekeeper for all prosecutions in their district, the public face of the Department of Justice in their district – and the boss of a very large and talented office of prosecutors and support staff. Juggling all those roles is a daily struggle … and, perhaps, the highest honor that a person can have.

What do you wish more people understood about our federal judiciary – and its court system?

Justice can be slow, and sometimes it may appear unfair or broken.  But at the hub of the American court system are some of the most dedicated, talented and fair-minded people you will ever meet. From the judges to the prosecutors to the defense attorneys and support staff, everyone simply wants to get it “right.” Also, in order for that system to get it “right,” citizens need to be willing to step up and do their job through jury duty.  Citizens can have a direct and immediate impact on justice simply by serving on a jury. Making jury duty a core value in this country should be a priority.

Who or what motivated you to pursue this area of the law? How do you feel about leaving it – and what are your plans, if any? 

There are many things that motivated me over the years.  My grandfather was an immigrant to this country, and that experience has shaped my desire to see all people get a fair chance at a decent life in a safe community. I am the youngest of five children in my family, so you can be sure I had to fight for justice growing up! 

On a more serious note, I have benefitted from many mentors over the years who taught me the value of standing up for justice and treating people fairly. I have sworn in dozens of assistant U.S. Attorneys and special assistant U.S. Attorneys over the last few years, and I had one simple message for them all: “Do the right thing, for the right reasons, every single time.”

I leave this job extremely happy with the job we have done – always doing the right thing for the right reasons. As for future plans, all I will say is that the future looks bright, and I am looking forward to the next challenge, whatever form it takes.

Do you have any advice for your successor?

My first assistant, Nelson Thayer, is acting U.S. attorney until someone else is named; I don't know who is being considered. My advice to anyone taking over the position is to always make justice and ethics their compass. Administrations change, priorities change, but justice does not change.