After Alme resigns to run for Senate, Tim Racicot now acting U.S. Attorney for Montana

Tim Racicot, a 20-year prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana, is now leading the federal prosecutor's office here on an interim basis after its top official, Kurt Alme, unexpectedly filed to run for the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Montana confirmed to the Montana State News Bureau on Thursday that Alme resigned from the post on March 4.

Alme's surprise candidacy came less than eight minutes before the state filing deadline and in the same moments that Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines withdrew his reelection campaign, torching the script for what was expected to be a surefire bid for his third term.

The Hatch Act of 1939 prohibits federal employees, such as federal prosecutors, from political activities like campaigning for office to ensure they don't wield power in that office for political gain.

Alme has not returned calls from the Montana State News Bureau since he filed for office. He was appointed U.S. Attorney for Montana during President Donald Trump's first term and reappointed last year after Trump took office for his second term. While President Joe Biden was president in between Trump's two administrations, Alme worked briefly as Gov. Greg Gianforte's state budget director.

Racicot has been with the federal prosecutor's office in Montana since 2005, and became First Assistant U.S. Attorney in August 2022.

He served as acting U.S. Attorney in February 2025 when, upon Trump's reelection, then-U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich, a Biden appointee, was removed from the job. Laslovich was reportedly at his work-issued laptop when the machine shut down on its own.