Judges Block Alina Habba From Continuing as Trump’s U.S. Attorney Pick in NJ [WATCH]

A panel of federal judges in New Jersey has declined to extend the interim term of Alina Habba, President Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, as reported by The New York Post.

Habba, who was sworn in on March 28, is set to vacate the post on July 26, ending her 120-day appointment without Senate confirmation.

The decision was made by the state’s 17 federal district judges, the majority of whom were appointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

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Under federal law, district judges have the authority to extend an interim U.S. attorney’s term when a nominee has not been confirmed by the Senate. In this case, the judges opted not to do so.

Chief U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb announced in a signed order Tuesday that Desiree Leigh Grace, who had been appointed by Habba as her first assistant U.S. attorney, will now take over the office.

Following the decision, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused the panel of acting politically. “Their rush reveals what this was always about: a left-wing agenda, not the rule of law,” Blanche wrote on X. “When judges act like activists, they undermine confidence in our justice.”

The district court judges in NJ are trying to force out @USAttyHabba before her term expires at 11:59 p.m. Friday. Their rush reveals what this was always about: a left-wing agenda, not the rule of law. When judges act like activists, they undermine confidence in our justice…

— Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) July 22, 2025

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The move echoes similar opposition faced by John Sarcone, another Trump nominee who was blocked by judges in New York. Sarcone ultimately secured a role as a special assistant U.S. attorney when Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed him to the position. That workaround granted him full authority despite not being confirmed by the Senate.

It remains unclear whether the Department of Justice will pursue a comparable path for Habba, who has been blocked from undergoing Senate vetting due to withheld “blue slips” from New Jersey’s Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim.

Without those approvals, Habba’s nomination never reached the Judiciary Committee.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also called for Habba’s removal, citing her indictment of Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver, who has pleaded not guilty to assaulting ICE officers during a protest at a Newark immigration detention facility in May.

Jeffries claimed on X that “Habba is a woefully unqualified political hack who must go.”

The so-called U.S. Attorney in NJ maliciously indicted Congresswoman LaMonica McIver for doing her job.

Alina Habba is a woefully unqualified political hack who has to go.

She must be rejected by the Federal District Court judges who are considering whether to retain her.…

— Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeemjeffries) July 18, 2025

In response, the conservative legal group Article III Project filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee, accusing Jeffries of attempting to “corruptly strong-arm” federal judges to remove Habba.

BREAKING: Federal judges in New Jersey have refused to extend Alina Habba’s role as interim U.S. Attorney.

This is unacceptable. Cancel the August recess. Get all nominees confirmed.
pic.twitter.com/TaU1bG4oUA

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 22, 2025

The group’s president, Mike Davis, argued that Jeffries improperly intervened in an active federal criminal matter.

Habba had also publicly considered charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka over the same ICE protest but did not ultimately file them.

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