Minnesota's top federal prosecutor faces staffing crisis amid legal challenges

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen addressed staffing challenges and ongoing efforts to combat crime in Minnesota in his first news conference since taking office last October, and his first news conference since Operation Metro Surge.

Overwhelmed by immigration cases 

What we know:

Rosen's office has been overwhelmed with civil immigration litigation, leading to dozens of court order violations, and twice now in recent days, federal judges have cited lawyers in the office with civil contempt.

Earlier this week, a U.S. District Court judge tossed out a gun case that was headed to trial because of a key missed deadline that was blamed in part on a lack of staffing.

By the numbers:

Rosen reported the office had 64 Assistant United States Attorneys in January 2025.

That number fell to 47 when he started in October.

Currently, Rosen stated the office has 36 Assistant U.S. Attorneys on staff including 26 in the criminal prosecution division.

Rosen emphasized that despite the staffing issues, his office is committed to pursuing big criminal cases across the district.

"If you're a criminal in the city of Minneapolis or in the state of Minnesota, I recommend that you don't commit crimes on the assumption that the U.S. Attorney's office doesn't have enough lawyers. We've got enough to get you all," said Rosen.

Efforts to strengthen the team 

What they're saying:

Rosen insisted hiring is strong, and the Trump administration has sent reinforcements to fill the gaps in his office.

"Our resources are greater than they were two months ago by a considerable margin," Rosen said. "And the pace of prosecutions and fraud, will increase at a considerable margin. And you will see that roll out over the coming weeks and months."

Tough questions about the federal response

Dig deeper:

During Wednesday’s news conference with the Minneapolis Police Chief and Hennepin County Sheriff by his side, Rosen discussed the cooperation between local and federal authorities in a major gang and drug trafficking takedown that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is taking the lead in prosecuting. 

But he declined to address the lack of cooperation in the deadly shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents.

"So, we're going to try to keep today's questions confined to the announcements that we have today. I don't have any comments to make, in connection with those matters," said Rosen.

He also declined to say if his office has considered charging any immigration enforcement agents for their conduct during Operation Metro Surge.

"Here in our office, we are not policy makers," Rosen said. "We are the lawyers who represent the people who execute the policies. It is my own particular view, that's not a PR effort, that's a legal effort here in the courts. We have got to keep our head down and focused on that because we're doing it. We are doing it effectively, and we are going to continue to do it."