Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
11-12-2025
NEW JERSEY: Alina Habba, the acting United States attorney for the District of New Jersey, has stepped down following a recent appeals court ruling that disqualified her from continuing in the role.
On Monday, Habba confirmed in a social media post that she had resigned.
She cited a decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that her enduring work as interim US attorney despite a lower court order ending her appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
“As a result of the Third Circuit’s ruling, and to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love, I have decided to step down in my role as the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey,” Habba wrote but “do not mistake my compliance for surrender. This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me.”
Her departure is the latest setback for the administration of President Donald Trump, which has clashed with the judicial branch of government as it seeks to expand executive power but even as Habba announced her departure, the Trump administration warned it would continue its efforts to overturn the court’s ruling.
In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi hinted that Habba could still be restored to the high-level post, even as she accepted the prosecutor’s resignation.
“The Department of Justice will seek further review of this decision, and we are confident it will be reversed,” Bondi wrote.
“Alina intends to return to lead the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey if this occurs.”
From personal lawyer to prosecutor
The controversy over Habba’s appointment stretches back to the first months of Trump’s second term, when the Republican leader began naming some of his close associates to high-level roles in the Department of Justice.
US attorneys serve as the top law enforcement officers in a given district, prosecuting cases on behalf of the federal government.
They also oversee vast networks of prosecutors. In the case of the New Jersey district, there are approximately 170 lawyers under the local US attorney’s command.
Normally, the post is filled once the US Senate approves a candidate but Habba has been serving in an interim capacity. She has no previous prosecutorial experience.
She was, however, employed as a personal lawyer to Trump between his terms in office, representing him in various civil matters.
Those cases ranged from a civil fraud complaint brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James to a defamation lawsuit brought by the writer E Jean Carroll. Trump lost both cases and has since appealed.
Nevertheless, Habba was one of several personal lawyers Trump handpicked to join the Justice Department.
They included Emil Bove, who defended Trump against two federal indictments from 2023 to 2024. Trump named Bove acting deputy attorney general in the Justice Department before successfully nominating him to a lifelong position on the Third Circuit Court.
Another example is Lindsey Halligan, an insurance lawyer who represented Trump in legal actions against the seizure of classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Halligan herself was appointed as an acting US attorney, serving in the Eastern District of Virginia. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
