Melissa Holyoak, a former Utah solicitor general and sitting Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner, was appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah by Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday.
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In July, reports surfaced the Trump administration was considering nominating Holyoak to replace former U.S. Attorney Trina Higgins, who resigned in February. Higgins was the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for Utah. After her resignation, Felice Viti took over as acting U.S. Attorney.
“It has been a blessing to serve alongside her for almost four years,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a press release announcing Holyoaks’s resignation from the agency following her appointment.
“She will be sorely missed at the FTC. But our loss is Utah’s great gain. As US Attorney, she will be a fearless champion for the people of Utah and for President Trump’s Golden-Age agenda. I will be rooting for her in her new role.”
Holyoak served as Utah’s solicitor general under former Attorney General Sean Reyes from 2020 to 2024. During her tenure she
She was nominated to fill one of the Republican seats on the FTC in 2023 and was confirmed in 2024.
Holyoak was criticized earlier this year for working from her home in Utah after President Trump demanded that federal employees cease remote work and show up in person five days a week or be fired.
Holyoak’s departure leaves the FEC with just two commissioners. The five-member commission is usually bipartisan, but earlier this year President Trump fired the two Democratic members. After challenging the dismissals, Alvaro Bedoya formally resigned in June. Melissa Slaughter will argue that her firing was illegal before the Supreme Court on Dec. 8.
