The Justice Department on Thursday laid the groundwork for President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, to remain as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey even after a panel of federal judges earlier this week voted her out of the role.
Habba’s interim appointment was set to expire on Friday due to the fact that the Senate had not yet voted on her confirmation, leading the judges to invoke their power to select a replacement.
But with just hours to go before being forced to vacate the post, Habba posted on X that she had been named as “acting” U.S. attorney for New Jersey — a separate, temporary designation that would allow her to remain in her role as the state’s top federal prosecutor for much of the next year.
The administration would be able to accomplish this bait and switch by withdrawing Habba’s nomination, then having Attorney General Pam Bondi appoint her as the office’s second-in-command. With nobody in charge, Habba could then resume her duties in an acting capacity, according to a DOJ official who spoke with Politico.
“Donald J. Trump is the 47th President. Pam Bondi is the Attorney General. And I am now the Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey,” Habba wrote in an X post Thursday evening. “I don’t cower to pressure. I don’t answer to politics. This is a fight for justice. And I’m all in.”
Habba, who has previously served as a White House counselor under Trump and as his personal defense attorney, was originally appointed by Trump four months ago to serve in the role on a permanent basis, pending Senate confirmation.
While Habba could have been kept on in the role after her 120-day interim period expired without Senate confirmation, a panel of federal judges named her first assistant, Desiree Leigh Grace, to the job instead.
Attorney General Pam Bondi subsequently fired Grace, thrusting the New Jersey office into a chaotic standoff.
Legally, Habba previously could not have served as acting U.S. attorney because of her pending Senate nomination, which was held up by New Jersey’s Democratic senators under a process called “senatorial courtesy,” where a nomination can time out without support from the home state’s senators.
The Department of Justice told The New York Times that because Trump had withdrawn Habba’s nomination from the Senate, it opened back up her ability to be selected as the acting attorney instead.
Habba’s winding path to remain in the role came after the Trump administration was able to force through its choice for attorney in another jurisdiction as well.
Last week, federal judges in a New York district also did not allow the president’s choice for U.S. attorney there to remain in the role after his interim period expired.
The administration pulled a similar move by appointing the attorney, John Sarcone, as the office’s first assistant — which, in the absence of another nominee, allowed him to assume the role of acting U.S. attorney.