U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked the remaining 46 chief federal prosecutors left over from the Obama administration to resign on Friday, to ensure an agreed process of change of leadership, Reuters reported.

The statement of the Ministry of Justice specifies that the remaining 47 of the 93 prosecutors appointed by the previous administration have already left their post  voluntarily.

According to The New York Times, the appeal to resign  concerns also Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who had been asked to stay on in November by then President-elect Donald Trump.

The firings were a surprise — especially for Mr. Bharara, who has a reputation for prosecuting public corruption cases and for investigating insider trading.  A spokesman for Mr. Bharara declined to comment.