Jason Reding Quiñones resigns as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida

Jason Reding Quiñones has resigned as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced it in a post on X at 9:31 a.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 6, saying Reding Quiñones had “submitted his resignation from the Department of Justice.”¹ Thirteen minutes later, Reding Quiñones wrote on his own account that he had sent his resignation to the president “effective today.”²

CBS News reported that Blanche’s statement gave no reason for the departure, and the portion of Reding Quiñones’ post that could be read gives none.³² In his post, Blanche praised Reding Quiñones’ work against violent crime, drug trafficking, sex trafficking and transnational crime.¹ Reuters reported that Blanche also cited the indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro.⁴ In his post, Reding Quiñones called public service “the honor of my lifetime.”² CBS News reported that he thanked President Donald Trump and wrote that he was leaving with “immense pride in what we accomplished together.”³

The portions of the two posts that could be read do not name a successor or an acting U.S. attorney. None of the news reports reviewed named one.¹²³⁴

His time in the job

The Senate confirmed Reding Quiñones 51-44 on Aug. 2, 2025, according to the Senate Democrats’ floor summary for that day. The nomination was for a four-year term.⁵⁶ In an Aug. 13, 2025, release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Attorney General Pam Bondi had sworn him in. The office called him the first confirmed U.S. attorney of Trump’s second administration. It said he had served as a state trial judge in Miami-Dade County and as an official in the Justice Department’s National Security Division. He succeeded Hayden P. O’Byrne, who had led the office since January 2025, the release said.⁷

An investigation overseen by the office

Reuters and CBS News both reported that his office has overseen a federal investigation that CBS called the “grand conspiracy” probe. Neither outlet reported a reason for the resignation.⁴³ CBS reported that the inquiry is based in Fort Pierce and concerns former intelligence officials under two Democratic administrations, and that it has not produced charges alleging the broader conspiracy it is examining.³

CBS also reported that Joe diGenova left the investigation in September and that former White House lawyer Kurt Olsen had also resigned from the case. In late October, Blanche said Reding Quiñones “always has been in charge” of the investigation, according to CBS.³

Other departures

CBS News reported that the Justice Department had announced a day earlier, on Thursday, Nov. 5, that Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general who led the Civil Rights Division, was leaving.³ Fox News, citing multiple unnamed sources, reported Friday that John Eisenberg, head of the National Security Division, was also stepping down.⁸

What the records do not show

• Only the opening lines of the two posts on X could be read; the rest of each post’s text was not available. The quotes above that are not marked as reported come from those opening lines.
• No Justice Department press release about the resignation was found. When checked Friday, the Southern District of Florida’s website still listed Reding Quiñones as U.S. attorney and did not mention the resignation.⁹
• No record or report reviewed names an acting U.S. attorney or a nominee to replace Reding Quiñones.
• The reason for the resignation is not given in any record or report reviewed, and none reviewed connects it to the investigation described above.
• The account of the Fort Pierce investigation comes from news reports. No court filing or Justice Department record about it was reviewed.
• Fox News’ report on Eisenberg relies on unnamed sources. No Justice Department record confirming it was found.