The Justice Department will appeal a decision from a federal judge on Thursday that said Alina Habba, President Trump’s pick as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, was not lawfully appointed to the top cop position.
“We will immediately appeal. @USAttyHabba is doing incredible work in New Jersey — and we will protect her position from activist judicial attacks,” Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X.
Hours before, U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann ruled Ms. Habba was unlawfully put into her position as U.S. attorney, and then later a special attorney to Ms. Bondi to serve as acting U.S. attorney over New Jersey.
“The Executive branch has perpetuated Alina Habba’s appointment to act as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey through a novel series of legal and personnel moves,” wrote Judge Brann, an Obama appointee.
“Along the way, it has disagreed with the Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and criminal defendants in that District about who should or may lead the office. Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,” the judge wrote.
The challenge came from defendants charged with bribery, money laundering and wire fraud, who argued that Ms. Habba did not have authority to participate in their cases because her appointment was unlawful.
The Justice Department has been sparing over Ms. Habba’s position since last month, insisting she is interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey after the district’s majority Democratic-appointed judges tried to boot her from the post.
Ms. Habba was first appointed to her position by Mr. Trump in March. She was to serve for 120 days until the Senate confirmed her permanently to the position, but that didn’t occur as the state’s two Democratic senators opposed her nomination.
The district’s 17 judges, 15 of whom were appointed by President Obama and President Biden, voted in July to remove her and appoint Desiree Leigh Grace, a subordinate to Ms. Habba, to the position.
In a quick turn of events, Ms. Bondi posted on social media that Ms. Grace was fired.
Ms. Habba served as a personal attorney to Mr. Trump before he won the 2024 election, and joined him at the White House as a senior counselor and adviser.
In March, she was sworn in as the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, her home state. In the role, she notably indicted Rep. LaMonica McIver, New Jersey Democrat, for her actions outside a federal immigration facility in May. That prosecution is pending.
During an interview on Fox News Thursday, Ms. Habba said Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is doing a “disservice” by holding up her confirmation process.
Mr. Grassley has not moved forward with the nomination because New Jersey’s two Democratic senators have refused to turn over their blue slips — a Senate tradition — showing they approve of the pick.
“I am the pick of the president,” Ms. Habba said. “It is disturbing what we are seeing. We will not fall to rogue judges. They should just be doing their job.”
