Maurene Comey unlawfully fired, judge rules, orders back pay

Key takeaways

• U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman found on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, that the Trump Justice Department broke federal law when it dismissed career prosecutor Maurene Comey in July 2025.
• The 55-page decision retroactively reinstates her and orders back pay from her firing through Dec. 20, 2025, when she took another job, according to CBS News.
• Furman rejected the government's Article II argument and held that the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 limits the attorney general's removal power.
• The Justice Department says it disagrees with the ruling and will appeal "in due course."

A federal judge in New York found Maurene Comey unlawfully fired by the Justice Department and on Oct. 26, 2026, ordered the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey retroactively reinstated as a federal prosecutor with back pay. The department says it will appeal.

What happened in the Maurene Comey ruling

Judge Jesse Furman, who sits on the federal bench in Manhattan, issued a 55-page decision on Monday finding that the firing violated both the constitutional separation of powers and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, CBS News reported in a story last updated at 12:55 p.m. EDT (16:55 UTC). Fox News published its account at 2:41 p.m. EDT (18:41 UTC).

Comey had worked as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan since 2015 and handled high-profile cases involving Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and former Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, according to CBS News. She was dismissed in July 2025 through a memo from Justice Department headquarters. Her termination letter said her employment was "hereby terminated" and gave no reason, CBS reported.

The government had asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Comey had to take her complaint to the Merit Systems Protection Board, the administrative body that handles many federal employment disputes. Furman denied that motion. He found the court had jurisdiction because the department rested the firing on presidential power under Article II of the Constitution.

What the judge wrote

Furman described the department's position as a "sweeping and unprecedented theory of executive authority," according to CBS News. He wrote that accepting it would "unsettle the very equilibrium established by this Nation's constitutional system." Fox News reported that the judge also wrote that the government's argument "flies in the face of nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent."

According to Fox News, the government conceded in court that the firing was not for cause and was not based on performance, and that Comey received no advance notice or chance to respond. In filings, the department also acknowledged that she received "outstanding" performance ratings from 2019 through 2024, CBS reported.

Key facts and timeline

How each side responded

A Justice Department spokesperson said the department "disagrees with this decision and will appeal in due course," according to CBS News. A department spokesperson gave Fox News Digital a similar statement.

Comey's lawyers, Ellen Blain, Nicole Gueron, Deepa Vanamali and Margaret Donovan, called the outcome a "hard-earned victory" and said "the President is not above the law," CBS reported. Fox News, citing a statement the lawyers gave to the Associated Press, reported that they said the decision "reaffirms our bedrock system of checks and balances."

The articles reviewed for this story did not include a White House response.

What we know and what we don't know yet

• Known: the court found the dismissal unlawful, denied the government's motion to dismiss, and ordered reinstatement with back pay through Dec. 20, 2025.
• Known: the Justice Department plans to appeal, which would send the case to a federal appeals court.
• Not yet known: when the appeal will be filed, whether the department will ask for the ruling to be paused while it is pending, and how any remaining claims in the lawsuit will proceed.

Background: the Comey family and the Justice Department

Maurene Comey's lawsuit claimed she was removed because of who her father is. James Comey led the FBI until President Donald Trump fired him during his first term, and he has since been an outspoken critic of the president. CBS News reported that he has been indicted twice during Trump's second term, that one of those criminal cases was thrown out, and that he has denied wrongdoing in the second. Fox News referred to a "86 47" seashell photo he posted, which critics said was a threat against the president. For earlier coverage of Justice Department actions involving former FBI officials, see our report on ex-FBI officials charged over the Hunter Biden laptop.

In defending the firing, the department relied partly on a June Supreme Court decision allowing presidents to remove members of certain independent agencies without cause, CBS reported. It also pointed to authority Congress gave the attorney general to fire assistant U.S. attorneys. Furman, a former prosecutor in the same Manhattan U.S. attorney's office where both Comeys once worked, was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2011, according to Fox News.

What it means

The ruling is one of the most direct court tests so far of how far the administration can stretch Article II to remove career civil servants who are covered by statutory job protections. By holding that the Civil Service Reform Act limits the attorney general's power, Furman's decision, if it survives appeal, would make it harder to dismiss career federal lawyers without cause or due process. An appeals court could narrow or reverse it, and the June Supreme Court ruling on independent agencies is likely to feature heavily in that fight.

More coverage: Maurene Comey, James Comey and Justice Department.