A federal judge will rule this week on whether Trump appointee Alina Habba can remain acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey after Trump bypassed Senate confirmation.
Judge Matthew Brann, an Obama appointee from Pennsylvania, is handling the case after New Jersey judges recused themselves. The challenge to Habba’s authority came from Julien Giraud Jr., a New Jersey defendant facing drug and gun charges. His lawyer argues that Trump’s appointment of Habba, his former attorney, as acting U.S. attorney violated constitutional rights due to the unusual process used to reinstall her.
Habba, lacking a clear path to Senate confirmation, first served a 120-day interim term as U.S. attorney. When New Jersey judges appointed career attorney Desiree Grace instead of extending her tenure, Trump fired Grace, withdrew Habba’s nomination, and reinstalled her as acting U.S. attorney, giving her another 210 days in the role.
“It goes completely against what the statute is meant to protect,” Giraud’s attorney argued in court on Friday, according to the New Jersey Monitor.
The DOJ argued that President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi followed all the proper protocols under federal vacancy laws to keep Habba in charge, with some DOJ attorneys writing in court papers: “The Girauds invent a requirement that, to serve as an ‘Acting officer’… one must already be the first assistant to that office when the vacancy arises. That is dead wrong textually; it makes no sense practically; and it relies on a mistaken premise.”
The case highlights Trump’s similar moves in blue states like California and New York, where his appointees also lack Senate confirmation prospects. The Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey argued in a brief that Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi violated the Constitution’s appointments clause with their “novel” orders installing Habba.
The group argued Attorney General Pam Bondi bypassed Congress by first naming Habba a “special attorney,” then making her “first assistant,” replacing Grace. Bondi claims this allowed her to install Habba as acting U.S. attorney under vacancy laws.
“To our knowledge, no prior Attorney General has ever attempted this,” the group said.
