What happened
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.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Political cartoons for December 2Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include advent chocolates, Ali MAGA, and more
-
Stranger Things, series five: ‘grander and gorier’ than everThe Week Recommends The Duffer Brothers’ hit show returns for its ‘thrilling’ final season
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crime
Speed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
The military: When is an order illegal?Feature Trump is making the military’s ‘most senior leaders complicit in his unlawful acts’
-
Ukraine and Rubio rewrite Russia’s peace planFeature The only explanation for this confusing series of events is that ‘rival factions’ within the White House fought over the peace plan ‘and made a mess of it’
-
Are Republicans going to do a deal on health care?Today's Big Question Obamacare subsidies are expiring soon
-
The powerful names in the Epstein emailsIn Depth People from a former Harvard president to a noted linguist were mentioned
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
-
Andriy Yermak: how weak is Zelenskyy without his right-hand man?Today's Big Question Resignation of Ukrainian president’s closest ally marks his ‘most politically perilous moment yet’
