Appeals Court Disqualifies Alina Habba From Being The Acting U.S. Attorney In New Jersey

Things are not looking good for President Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba.

Habba who was selected by President Trump to be the interim U.S. attorney of New Jersey, has just lost her appeal to remain the interim attorney.

Trump appointed Habba as the interim U.S. attorney of New Jersey in an attempt to avoid a lengthy Senate hearing process for Habba.

CBS News reported more on the court’s recent ruling on Habba’s ineligibility to serve as the interim U.S. attorney:

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a lower court decision that disqualified Alina Habba, who served as a personal lawyer to President Trump, as the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

The decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit was unanimous against the Trump administration, which has attempted to use a novel mechanism to place lawyers who have not received Senate approval into temporary U.S. attorney positions across the country.

The case before the 3rd Circuit arose after three men facing criminal charges in New Jersey challenged the validity of Habba’s appointment as a violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and sought to have their indictments dismissed.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann ruled in August that Habba has been serving without lawful authority since the beginning of July, when she was tapped to temporarily lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. Brann said she must be disqualified from participating in ongoing cases.

The Justice Department appealed that decision to the 3rd Circuit, which is now the first federal appeals court to weigh in on the administration’s scheme for installing certain U.S. attorneys.

Habba was tapped to serve as interim U.S. attorney in New Jersey earlier this year, but her appointment to the role was limited to 120 days, unless the U.S. district court in New Jersey voted to extend her tenure or she was confirmed to the post by the Senate. Habba’s nomination, however, was unlikely to win approval in the upper chamber, as New Jersey’s two senators, Democrats Cory Booker and Andy Kim, opposed her nomination.

Watch Fox News break down the ruling below:

Backup here if needed:

🚨 BREAKING: In an infuriating development, activist judges have just DISQUALIFIED Alina Habba as U.S. Attorney in New Jersey.

The Senate GOP is making this WORSE by refusing to surge her confirmation past Democrats, letting them stonewall her nomination.

FIX IT, SENATE GOP! pic.twitter.com/ItTat1n5ic

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 1, 2025

NBC News reported on what led to the case reaching the U.S. Court of Appeals:

n the summer ruling, U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann took issue with Trump naming Habba as interim U.S. attorney in March, a position that is time-limited to 120 days. He said in his ruling that while Trump nominated her in June to serve as the permanent attorney, the Senate did not take up her nomination.

Weeks after Trump nominated her to the permanent position, judges for the U.S. District Court of New Jersey appointed her deputy to be the new U.S. attorney. In response, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the deputy, appointed Habba as “Special Attorney to the Attorney General,” then appointed her to the deputy position, which allowed her to become the acting U.S. attorney again.

The appeals court’s decision comes just days after a federal judge dismissed criminal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after finding that acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was prosecuting the cases, was unlawfully appointed.

U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie said last month that Halligan, another former Trump lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience, “had no lawful authority to present the indictment.”