Former Rep. Dan Bishop under consideration for U.S. Attorney job in NC
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- Sen. Thom Tillis confirmed Dan Bishop is being vetted for U.S. attorney in NC.
- Bishop, 61, serves as OMB deputy director and previously represented NC in Congress.
- District covering Durham, Greensboro and Winston-Salem is under acting U.S. attorney.
Former Rep. Dan Bishop is under consideration to be U.S. attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Sen. Thom Tillis confirmed the possibility to McClatchy in an exclusive interview at the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon.
“He’s been discussed,” Tillis said. “He’s probably in the vetting process.”
Bishop, 61, a Republican from Waxhaw, currently serves in the Trump administration as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Both of North Carolina’s senators spoke to McClatchy about the job in exclusive conversations Wednesday, though Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from Davie County, said he wanted to keep his conversations with Bishop private.
Budd said the acting U.S. attorney’s position is set to expire and “there’s a lot of talent in the pipeline for the job.”
The Middle District of North Carolina spans Durham, Greensboro and Winston-Salem.
Bishop, who has served in the federal government since 2019, spent three decades as a litigator.
Bishop served from September 2019 to Jan. 3, 2025, in Congress representing a district near Charlotte. In that role, Bishop aligned himself with the far-right House Freedom Caucus, which made major moves last Congress including those leading to the removal of Speaker Kevin McCarthy from leadership.
Budd was also a member of the Freedom Caucus before joining the Senate.
Bishop chose to forgo running for reelection in 2024 and focused on a run for state attorney general. He lost 51%-49% against former Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from Charlotte. Jackson had opted against his own reelection campaign after Republicans redrew his congressional district to make it all but impossible for Jackson to win.
For Bishop to become U.S. attorney, Trump would need to make the nomination and then would need Senate approval, the same process he went through for his role in OMB. Tillis said with the term of the interim attorney expiring, he expects that nomination to happen soon.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice declined to comment on the potential nomination, and a White House spokesperson didn’t respond.
Tillis said he has not personally spoken to Trump about Bishop, but he supports the potential nomination.
“Dan and I knew each other,” Tillis said. “We had differences on legislative priorities, but I actually think he’s a good, solid lawyer, and probably would play a good role as U.S. attorney.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 1:37 PM.