Assistant United States Attorney

Assistant U.S. attorneys working in their office's criminal section are often called federal prosecutors.

AUSAs are rarely hired directly out of law school and often have significant experience before entering the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

[4] Many AUSAs, after spending some time working for the Justice Department, return to the private practice of law.

[4][10] NAAUSA has also targeted the pay disparity between AUSAs and trial attorneys at Main Justice; the latter tend to be paid more than the former.

[4] As of 2020[update], AUSAs earned a starting base salary of $55,204, which may be significantly adjusted for their local cost of living and increases with years of experience up to a maximum of $176,200.

They are paid by that agency and seconded to a United States Attorney's Office for a set period of time.