Alina Habba Is Named Acting U.S. Attorney in New Jersey

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Alina Habba Is Named Acting U.S. Attorney in New Jersey

Ms. Habba’s tenure as interim U.S. attorney was slated to end this week, but the Trump administration’s appointment will allow her to remain the top law enforcement official in the state.


Alina Habba, seen being sworn in as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey earlier this year, was appointed as acting U.S. attorney for the state on Thursday. Kenny Holston/The New York Times

By Tracey Tully and Jonah E. Bromwich
July 24, 2025

The Justice Department on Thursday cleared the way for Alina Habba to remain in her role as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey. … Ms. Habba’s tenure as interim U.S. attorney was set to expire on Friday. But she announced on social media on Thursday that she would be New Jersey’s acting U.S. attorney. … The decision will allow Ms. Habba to lead the New Jersey office for at least the next 210 days.

President Trump had previously nominated Ms. Habba to be U.S. attorney in a permanent capacity, which under the law would have precluded her from serving as acting U.S. attorney. But a spokesman for the Justice Department said Thursday that the White House had withdrawn her nomination, allowing her to serve as acting U.S. attorney.

A White House spokesman, Harrison Fields, said in a statement that, “President Trump continues to have full confidence in Alina Habba and her commitment to serve the people of New Jersey.”

The sudden announcement for now ends a days-long standoff between officials in Washington and federal judges in New Jersey that had caused chaos in the prosecutor’s office, with each abrupt development leaving it more unclear who would lead in the weeks to come. {snip} Earlier this week, the judges appointed their own choice for U.S. attorney, an experienced prosecutor named Desiree Leigh Grace. But shortly after Ms. Grace was named, Justice Department officials announced that she had been fired, attacking the judges as political agents and declaring their support for Ms. Habba.

{snip}

Tracey Tully is a reporter for The Times who covers New Jersey, where she has lived for more than 20 years.

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region for The Times. He is focused on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area's federal and state courts.

[SheilaAnn]

1. Check the latest. She is out of NJ and will be working a an asst. to bondi, NJ has their own US Attorney.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Wait. What? NT

[SheilaAnn]

3. It happend yesterday, further down this page is the scoop.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Got a link? Thanks. NT

[SheilaAnn]

5. Here it is...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-attorney-new-jersey-alina-habba-desiree-leigh-grace-pam-bondi/

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. I think you'll see that's what the NYT is saying.

The stories are in agreement.

I don’t think Habba is going to DC to work directly with Bondi.

And good morning.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Deadline: Legal Blog-How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba's fate as U.S. attorney

Last edited Tue Jul 29, 2025, 05:26 PM - Edit history (1)

A New Jersey defendant argues that Habba can’t lawfully prosecute the case because she isn’t legally the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba’s fate as U.S. attorney. How a routine drug case could decide Alina Habba’s fate as U.S. attorney www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...

— ClimateAngelSOS ✡️🇺🇸☮️🌎🐝🌻🦋🇺🇦 (@climateangel.bsky.social) 2025-07-29T20:46:02.833Z

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/alina-habba-us-attorney-julien-giraud-lawsuit-rcna221696

When Julien Giraud Jr. was federally indicted on drug and gun charges last year in New Jersey, he had little reason to think his case would double as a challenge to the lawfulness of Alina Habba’s position as U.S. attorney. But that challenge is now playing out, as the defendant argues that the Trump ally isn’t lawfully serving in her position and therefore the office she purports to lead lacks the authority to prosecute him.....

So what’s Giraud’s argument? In a motion filed Sunday ahead of his trial set for next week, his lawyer Thomas Mirigliano wrote that Habba’s reappointment violated federal law because the fact that Trump submitted Habba’s nomination to the Senate prevents her from serving in an acting capacity, regardless of whether Trump subsequently withdrew her nomination or not. He argued that being prosecuted by an unauthorized U.S. attorney undermines his due process rights, so he asked U.S. District Judge Edward Kiel, the New Jersey judge handling his case, to dismiss the indictment or at least to block Habba or any prosecutor acting under her authority from prosecuting him.

The New York Times reported that federal court proceedings throughout New Jersey “were abruptly canceled on Monday because of uncertainty over” Habba’s authority, citing Giraud’s case and others. Habba is one of several lawyers who represented Trump in his personal capacity and have gone on to high-ranking Justice Department posts during his second term.

After Giraud filed his motion, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, which covers New Jersey and nearby states, tapped Pennsylvania’s chief federal trial judge for the state’s middle district, Matthew Brann, to preside over the matter. The chief circuit judge made the move under a law that says chief circuit judges “may, in the public interest, designate and assign temporarily any district judge of the circuit to hold a district court in any district within the circuit.”.....

Brann ordered a status conference with the parties to take place Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., so the direction in which the matter is headed could become clearer later Tuesday. Whatever happens at the trial court level might not be the last word on this consequential and thorny issue, so this could be just the start of drawn-out litigation.

This will be a fun case to watch.