Alina Habba attends her swearing-in ceremony as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
In a sharp exchange Monday, Judge D. Brooks Smith of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described the Trump administration’s efforts to keep Alina Habba in the role of U.S. Attorney for New Jersey as “a complete circumvention of the Appointments Clause.”
His remarks signaled the court’s deep unease with how the Department of Justice and President Donald Trump's administration handled her appointment.
If the court finds the government’s maneuvering unlawful, it could throw into question a wide array of prosecutions brought under Habba’s leadership, or require the office to restart cases.
In August, a lower court ruled her appointment unlawful, saying she had long served in the post without the proper statutory authorization.
With the appeal under way, uncertainty shadows who can make key decisions in the state’s federal prosecutor’s office and whether convicted defendants may challenge past indictments.
Associated Press reported that during Monday’s hearing in Philadelphia, the judge asked the government lawyer, “Would you concede that the sequence of events here – and for me, they’re unusual – would you concede there are serious constitutional implications to your theory here?”
The government defended Attorney General Pam Bondi’s appointment of Habba, arguing it was within legal bounds.
But the panel of three judges — who heard arguments in person, with Habba in attendance — repeatedly probed the government’s rationale, asking whether the sequence of employment actions really conformed to established law.
Reacting to the hearing, legal analyst Barbara McQuade told MSNBC, “Now, they could appoint a new U.S. attorney there to remedy that problem and re‑file some of those cases. But it could mean a mad scramble for people who are working there.”
Habba was tapped by the Trump administration in March to serve as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Under federal statute her interim term was limited to 120 days. When that expired, New Jersey’s federal judges declined to reappoint her, and she was then shifted via special titles in a move the district court called “novel” and illegal.
That court ruled in August that Habba lacked lawful authority since July 1, though it stayed its order pending appeal.
The matter is now before the Third Circuit, which must decide how far the executive branch may stretch the appointments process, and what it means for federal law enforcement in New Jersey.
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