U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced Monday that he will step down from his post effective Jan. 5. The decision by Carpenito, who took the helm during the administration of President Donald Trump, clears the way for President-Elect Joe Biden to choose his own candidate for the position.

Carpenito, previously an assistant U.S. attorney and a partner at Alston & Bird in New York, assumed the job of U.S. attorney in an unconventional manner, never receiving a nomination from Trump. Instead he was appointed on an interim basis by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January 2018 and had his appointment extended by a vote of the state's federal judges in April 2018.