In a sharp judicial pullback that sent tremors through the administration’s efforts to install loyal figures in key legal posts, a federal appeals court has ruled that Alina Habba’s elevation to the helm of New Jersey’s federal prosecutor’s office was unlawful. With that, her brief command over the state’s federal criminal docket has come to an abrupt, court-ordered halt.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered the unanimous decision, affirming an earlier ruling that the appointment sidestepped the federal laws governing who may serve as acting U.S. attorney. The opinion, written with unmistakable clarity, noted the administration’s repeated attempts to maneuver around legal constraints to seat preferred candidates.
The fallout is immediate and far-reaching: dozens of active federal cases in New Jersey now stand in a kind of supervisory limbo, requiring the Justice Department to identify a new, lawfully empowered overseer. An appeal to the Supreme Court remains a possibility, but no official reaction emerged from the Department in the wake of the ruling.
Defense teams challenging Habba’s authority seized on the judgment as validation of their argument that the administration had tried to sidestep long-established constitutional safeguards. One of those defendants, who faces charges including wire fraud and money laundering, has maintained that Habba’s appointment was an attempt to bypass Senate confirmation while keeping a political ally in the top job indefinitely.
The ruling arrives amid a broader pattern: federal courts around the country have been scrutinizing and dismantling temporary U.S. attorney appointments pushed through without Senate approval. Recent decisions in Virginia, California, and Nevada have likewise rejected similar maneuvers, some resulting in the dismissal of high-profile criminal cases brought by unlawfully appointed prosecutors.
In New Jersey, the controversy had escalated after district judges declined to extend Habba’s interim term and instead designated her deputy—a career prosecutor—to step in. The Justice Department responded by removing the deputy and attempting to reinstall Habba through an alternative appointment mechanism, a strategy the appeals court concluded was legally untenable.
Habba, whose background includes serving as a personal attorney during Trump’s post-presidency years, had drawn public attention for political commentary made from her temporary perch and for criminal charges brought against a sitting Democratic legislator following a heated encounter with federal agents.
With the court’s ruling now in place, the Justice Department faces a forced reset in New Jersey—one that underscores the limits of executive improvisation when it comes to federal legal leadership.
