The U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey was thrust into uncharted waters on Tuesday when Attorney General Pam Bondi moved to fire a career prosecutor selected to replace President Donald Trump’s pick for the role, Alina Habba.
The dramatic series of events came just hours after Trump’s former personal attorney was voted out of her role as interim U.S. attorney by a panel of federal judges who subsequently invoked their power to select another candidate.
The panel was empowered to make the decision on whether Habba should continue in the role because her 120-day interim period was set to end without the U.S. Senate voting on her confirmation.
Habba, who also served as a White House counselor under Trump, was appointed as temporary top prosecutor for the state four months ago. While she could have been kept on in the role after the 120-day interim expired, the panel named her first assistant, Desiree Leigh Grace, to the job instead.
Bondi quickly took to social media to defend Habba, writing that she “has been doing a great job in making NJ safe again. Nonetheless, politically minded judges refused to allow her to continue in her position, replacing Alina with the First Assistant.”
“Accordingly, the First Assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey has just been removed,” Bondi’s post continued. “This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the President’s core Article II powers.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also posted on X that “The district judges in NJ just proved this was never about law—it was about politics. They forced out President Trump’s pick, @USAttyHabba, then installed her deputy, colluding with the NJ Senators along the way. It won’t work. Pursuant to the President’s authority, we have removed that deputy, effective immediately. This backroom vote will not override the authority of the Chief Executive.”
The “NJ Senators” Blanche is referring to are Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, who have indicated opposition to Habba’s nomination, which was pending Senate confirmation. Senate tradition involves “senatorial courtesy,” where a nomination can time out without support from the home state’s senators.
In her brief order, Chief Judge for the District of New Jersey Renée Marie Bumb wrote that Grace’s appointment “is effective July 22, 2025, or ‘upon the expiration of 120 days after appointment by the Attorney General’ of the Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, whichever is later.”
The New York Times suggested there may be some confusion here as well: While Trump named Habba on March 24, she was sworn in four days later, which could give her some days left in the role.
The DOJ seems aware. Blanche wrote earlier on Tuesday that the New Jersey judges were “trying to force” Habba out “before her term expires at 11:59 p.m. Friday.”
It remains unclear what happens next. Whether Bondi and Blanche’s firing nullifies the judges’ appointment is an open question — though it is equally unclear how those judges would enforce their decision. The brouhaha is likely to continue to play out in another dramatic confrontation between the administration and the federal judiciary.
The drama in New Jersey comes just days after a similarly bizarre situation in upstate New York. Last week, federal judges in the Northern District of New York refused to appoint Trump’s pick for interim U.S. attorney there, John Sarcone, but also formally declined to select anyone else. The Trump administration kept him in the elevated position of power by instead opting to appoint Sarcone as his own assistant — and technically make the assistant role the top federal prosecutor in charge.