By Emily Anderson Stern and Addy Baird | The Salt Lake Tribune | Photo by Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune

Former Utah Solicitor General Melissa Holyoak was appointed Monday as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Utah by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Holyoak, at the time, was serving as a Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission. She officially departed from the role Monday, according to the FTC.

Utah’s new top federal attorney was Utah’s solicitor general — the state’s top litigator — from 2020 until her confirmation to the FTC in 2024. During that time, she oversaw prominent cases such as Utah’s ongoing defense of a currently blocked near-total abortion ban and the launch of a lawsuit challenging Biden-era expansions of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

Former FBI agent Felice John Viti has served as Utah’s acting U.S. attorney since former U.S. Attorney Trina Higgins, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, resigned in February of this year.

Holyoak will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate within 120 days before officially being named to the role.

Read more at SLTrib.com.

This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.