The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Monday agreed with a lower court that Alina Habba, a former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, has been unlawfully serving as U.S. attorney for New Jersey since July 1. The theory put forward by the government to justify Habba’s appointment was “so broad that it bypasses the constitutional process entirely,” said the three-judge panel.
Who said what
The ruling was a “blow to the Trump administration,” which has installed several U.S. attorneys “through a series of unusual maneuvers” to sidestep a 120-day window for interim appointments, The New York Times said. It is “apparent” that the Trump administration is “frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place,” Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote for the panel. But the “citizens of New Jersey” and lawyers at the U.S. attorney’s office “deserve some clarity and stability.”
Monday’s ruling “applies only to Habba’s appointment,” The Washington Post said, but it “could have far-reaching implications for other controversial Trump appointments.” Acting U.S. Attorneys Lindsey Halligan in Virginia and Bill Essayli in California have also been “jammed up in court proceedings” over whether Trump “sidestepped the Senate and improperly exploited loopholes in federal vacancy laws” to appoint them, Fox News said.
What next?
It “isn’t clear who will lead” New Jersey’s U.S. attorney’s office now, said CNN. Habba’s case “may be the first of its kind to reach the Supreme Court,” the Times said, though Halligan’s appeal of her disqualification “could be expedited by virtue of being entangled with criminal cases against President Trump’s enemies.”
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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
