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U.S. president Donald Trump is poised to pick longtime South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) director Bryan Stirling as the next U.S. attorney for the Palmetto State, multiple sources familiar with his impending nomination have confirmed to FITSNews.
Stirling’s appointment to the role of top federal prosecutor in South Carolina would be subject to the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. It is not immediately clear when Trump intends to make the nomination official, but sources familiar with the announcement have indicated it could come as soon as next week.
Tapped by former governor Nikki Haley to lead SCDC back in 2014, Stirling has been credited with making “courageous, innovative and systemic changes” to the agency, according to the presenters of the Tom Clements Award. Stirling received this honor from the Correctional Leaders Association (CLA) in 2021.
Last year, he received the Strom Thurmond Award for excellence in law enforcement.
Stirling’s appointment would put a relatively quick end to what was shaping up as yet another lengthy battle over this influential position – which oversees all federal prosecutions within the district of South Carolina.
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The last time Trump was in office, warring “Republicans” in the Palmetto State refused to budge on their preferred picks for this post. A lengthy proxy war ensued – which prevented attorney Sherri Lydon from assuming the office until May 2018, nearly a year-and-a-half after Trump was sworn in. This news outlet praised Lydon’s work, but she wasn’t on the job for very long – with Trump tapping her for a federal judgeship a little more than a year later. Lydon took her place on the federal bench in December 2019 and former S.C. House judiciary chairman Peter McCoy followed her into office. He served from April 2020 until February of the following year.
Democrats actually had a longer proxy war after former president Joe Biden took office. His first choice for this seat was S.C. first circuit solicitor David Pascoe. Unfortunately for Pascoe, his nomination was blocked by U.S. senator Lindsey Graham. Former S.C. House minority leader James Smith thereafter emerged as a favored candidate for the post, but he was dogged by his proximity to a 2018 scandal involving improper contracts he received from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Eventually, the job fell to Adair Ford Boroughs – who wasn’t sworn in until July 2022, a full year-and-a-half after Biden took office.
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U.S. president @realDonaldTrump will be naming @BryanStirling – director of @SCDCNews – as the next @USAO_SC, multiple sources familiar with the impending appointment have confirmed to our @TheWillFolks.
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) April 24, 2025
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Stirling, 55, is a native of Boston, Massachusetts who lives in the Midlands region of South Carolina. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina in 1991 and his law degree from the school in 1996. Prior to taking the reins at SCDC he was chief of staff for Haley – and prior to that he worked as a deputy attorney general.
As FITSNews noted back in February, Stirling “was high on Trump’s list for this position the last time he served as president” and was “encouraged to seek the post this go-round as well.”
Given his extensive ties with state law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies, Stirling is viewed as the ideal candidate to restore relations between these entities and their federal counterparts – relations which have been frayed in recent years.
Stirling would inherit an agency currently handling several incredibly high-profile cases – including a sprawling investigation into Spartanburg County sheriff Chuck Wright, a nebulous probe of embattled coastal pastor John-Paul Miller and an ongoing inquiry into sitting S.C. state representative R.J. May III.
Keep it tuned to FITSNews for the very latest on those cases… as well as the latest developments related to Stirling’s impending appointment.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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