This law firm has deep ties to Trump. Now a partner is his pick for a top job.

Washington — It was not yet 4 o'clock in the morning in Washington on Wednesday when President Trump, an ocean away at the G7 summit in France, issued a demand for Republican senators: James "Jamie" McDonald, his pick for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, "must be confirmed" immediately.

"I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don't want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place," the president said on his Truth Social platform.

McDonald is Mr. Trump's choice to helm one of the nation's most prestigious federal prosecutors' offices — known for its independence and tough enforcement of Wall Street malfeasance and other white-collar crimes. And he would succeed Jay Clayton, who has been tapped by the president to become the next director of national intelligence.

Though little known outside the power corridors of Washington and Manhattan, McDonald has been a notable force during Mr. Trump's second term. At Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the world's largest law firms, where Clayton also once worked as a partner, McDonald has played a central role in persuading the Justice Department to drop or settle a string of high-profile cases for the firm's corporate clients, according to court records and sources familiar with the matter.

Now, questions about his ability to maintain prosecutorial independence could play a central role in any confirmation review, Democratic Senate sources told CBS News, as Mr. Trump has sought to expedite his nomination.

Sullivan & Cromwell, where McDonald has worked since 2021, has emerged as a firm known for its close relationships with the White House during Mr. Trump's second term.

Law firms have long sought to make use of close relationships at the Justice Department to assist their clients, which many lawyers consider zealous advocacy. But there are growing questions among senior lawyers at other big law firms and career prosecutors about whether Sullivan & Cromwell's clients "are getting favorable treatment at the Justice Department — not because the facts of the law compel it," but because some of the firm's senior partners are aligned with the president, as one former Justice Department official who worked in a Democratic administration put it.

"Sullivan & Cromwell understands the D.C. game and knows that staying close to the president is the best way to navigate the current environment," another former Justice Department official who worked in the second Trump administration told CBS News.

On Saturday, the pre