A seasoned litigator with deep Central Valley roots has stepped back into federal service, bringing decades of high-level legal experience to one of California’s most expansive federal districts. Eric Grant was sworn in yesterday as the Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California by Chief United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley, after Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed him to the position beginning on Aug. 11, 2025.
The appointment marks Grant’s third tour of duty with the Department of Justice, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Modesto-raised attorney has served twice in Washington, D.C.: from 1991 to 1993 as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel, and from 2017 to 2021 as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
A District of Vast Scope
Grant now oversees 34 counties throughout the Central Valley and the Sierra, from the Oregon border in the north to the Los Angeles County line in the south. As reported by the Eastern District office, the operation includes 72 attorneys and 61 non-attorney staff with offices in Sacramento, Fresno, and Bakersfield.
The district represents one of the most geographically diverse federal jurisdictions in the nation, encompassing six large urban areas: Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, Stockton, Vallejo, and Fairfield. It extends over 87,000 square miles, 45% of which is federal land, reaching from the coastal mountains in the west to the Nevada border in the east.
Environmental Law Expertise
During his tenure at the Environment and Natural Resources Division, Grant supervised more than a hundred Department litigators advancing the interests of the United States and its agencies in both enforcement and defensive matters. His high-profile work included spearheading the government’s successful petition for certiorari in U.S. Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Ass’n, 140 S. Ct. 1837 (2020), according to Hicks Thomas LLP…