CHICAGO (WLS) — The caseload is piling up and a new administration in Washington means fresh demands for federal prosecutors here in Chicago who have not had a permanent boss in years. As immigration and deportation cases are likely to fill federal court dockets, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois is at a critical juncture.

If walls could talk, those that line Chicago’s Dirksen Federal Building could tell the tales of takedowns of some of the country’s most storied criminals.

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“This is, you know, one of the most important U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the country in terms of their work on public corruption, fighting crime, enforcing immigration laws,” Rep. Darin LaHood told the I-Team.

But right now some say the federal prosecutor’s office is a shadow of its former self, operating without a permanent leader.

Rep. LaHood, Illinois’ highest ranking Republican in Washington, wants to make quick work of helping President Trump fill that role.

“There’s a long list of people that will be qualified that will want the job,” said Rep. LaHood.

Joliet native John Lausch, nominated by President Trump during his first term in 2017, was the last confirmed lead prosecutor in the office.

Acting U.S. Attorney Morris “Sonny” Pasqual was put in the top spot on a temporary tenure nearly two years ago. President Biden’s pick to fill the job, April Perry, was never confirmed.

“We were stopped by one senator, a senator from Ohio named JD Vance,” said Sen. Dick Durbin.

Data from the U.S. government shows the number of criminal indictments filed by the Northern District of Illinois’ office has dropped relatively steadily in the last four years, from 924 in 2019 and bottoming out at 396 in 2024. That’s the lowest number of criminal indictments in at least 30 years.

Sources with knowledge of the selection process tell the ABC7 I-Team these former federal prosecutors are among the contenders for the U.S. Attorney role: Andrew Boutros, Mark Schneider, and Jeff Cramer.

“President Trump and his team will want a strong prosecutor in this office, someone that’s going to enforce the rule of law,” said Rep. LaHood.

Former federal prosecutor, Ron Safer, says it’s going to take a special person to do the job. “The new U.S. Attorney is going to have to thread a needle between the priorities that are given in Washington and having troops that believe in the mission,” said Safer.

There are currently 144 assistant U.S. attorneys working in the Northern District. That is around the same number the office had in 2002. The difference between now and then is that the office indicted more than twice as many cases back in 2002.