Federal judge rules Alina Habba is not lawfully acting as US attorney for NJ

Another federal judge has ruled against the agenda of the Trump administration after finding that the president’s personal attorney Alina Habba was unlawfully serving as a U.S. attorney.

President Donald Trump used a “novel series of legal and personnel moves” as described by U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann to keep Habba as the AG after her 120-day period as interim U.S. attorney ran out.

‘I conclude that Ms. Habba was ineligible to assume the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.’

Two defendants facing federal drug trafficking charges in New Jersey objected on the basis that Habba did not have the authority to prosecute them. On Thursday, Judge Brann sided with the alleged drug traffickers.

“Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,” Brann wrote.

When Habba’s 120-day period ended, New Jersey federal judges declined to extend it and instead appointed attorney Desiree Leigh Grace in her place.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi then fired Grace and accused the judges of being motivated by politics. Trump then withdrew Habba’s nomination and appointed her as first assistant U.S. attorney.

“President Trump has full confidence in Alina Habba, whose work as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey has made the Garden State and the nation safer,” White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement to Blaze News at the time. “The Trump administration looks forward to her final confirmation in the U.S. Senate and will work tirelessly to ensure the people of New Jersey are well represented.”

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Brann argued that this was an unlawful appointment.

“I conclude that Ms. Habba was ineligible to assume the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey on July 24, 2025, because she was not the first assistant when the vacancy occurred upon Mr. [former U.S. Attorney Philip] Sellinger’s resignation on January 8, 2025,” he wrote in the 77-page order. “Therefore, Ms. Habba may not participate in the defendants’ prosecutions going forward as the ‘Acting United States Attorney.'”

Brann’s ruling is on hold pending an appeal.

Habba’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

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