Trump's former lawyer Alina Habba resigns as top federal prosecutor in
New Jersey
[December 09, 2025]
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, resigned
Monday as the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey, leaving the job
after an appeals court said she had been serving in the post unlawfully.
In a statement posted on social media, Habba assailed the court's ruling
as political, but said she was resigning “to protect the stability and
integrity” of her office.
“But do not mistake compliance for surrender,” she said, adding that the
administration would continue its appeal of the court rulings ousting
her from the position. “This decision will not weaken the Justice
Department and it will not weaken me.”
Habba is one of several acting U.S. attorneys around the country to have
their appointments by the Trump administration challenged on the basis
that they stayed in the temporary jobs longer than the law allows.
She said she would remain with the Justice Department as a senior
adviser to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Her former duties will, for
now, be split between three Justice Department lawyers.
Habba's term was temporary
Habba, 41, was appointed in March to serve a temporary term as acting
U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a powerful post charged with enforcing
federal criminal and civil law.
Once a partner in a small New Jersey law firm, Habba was among Trump’s
most visible legal defenders before his return to the White House,
representing him in court and frequently appearing on cable TV news on
his behalf.
But she had a partisan bent and no experience as a prosecutor. New
Jersey’s two Democratic senators indicated they would block her
confirmation in the U.S. Senate.
She brought a trespassing charge, eventually dropped, against the
Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, stemming from his visit to an
immigration detention center. Habba later charged Democratic U.S. Rep.
LaMonica McIver with assaulting a federal agent during the same
incident. McIver says she didn't assault anyone. The case is pending.
Trump calls it a ‘sad situation’
Asked about Habba’s resignation on Monday, Trump lashed out at the
Senate over its tradition of refusing to act on nominees if they are
opposed by the senators representing the state involved.
“It’s a horrible thing. It makes it impossible to appoint a judge or a
U.S. attorney,” Trump told reporters at the White House. "I guess I just
have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint
another one, another one. It’s a very sad situation. We’re losing a lot
of great people.”
When Habba's term expired in July, a panel of federal judges appointed
one of her subordinates to the role. But Bondi promptly fired the
replacement, blaming Habba’s removal on “politically minded judges.”
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Alina Habba, President Donald Trump's pick to be the interim U.S.
Attorney for New Jersey, speaks with reporters outside the White
House, March 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein,
File)
A lower-court judge’s finding that Habba was unlawfully serving in
the position soon triggered a monthslong legal standoff, prompting
confusion and delays within New Jersey’s federal court system.
Then, earlier this month, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia
disqualified her from serving in the role, writing in their opinion
that “the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the U.S.
Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability.”
Trump's critics say he has been exploiting legally questionable
loopholes to put unqualified loyalists in jobs that require U.S.
Senate confirmation.
Justice Department vows to fight disqualifications
Bondi said Habba will return as U.S. attorney if the
administration's court appeals are successful.
“These judges should not be able to countermand the President’s
choice of attorneys entrusted with carrying out the executive
branch’s core responsibility of prosecuting crime,” she said.
Besides Habba, several other Trump administration prosecutors have
had their appointments as U.S. attorneys challenged including those
in eastern Virginia, Nevada, Los Angeles and northern New York.
In Virginia, a judge dismissed criminal cases against former FBI
Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on
the grounds that the interim U.S. attorney who filed the charges,
Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.
In September and October, federal judges disqualified the acting
U.S. attorneys in Nevada and Southern California, Sigal Chattah and
Bill Essayli, saying they had stayed in the temporary jobs longer
than allowed by law.
On Thursday, another federal judge heard an argument by New York
Attorney General Letitia James that the administration also twisted
the law to make John Sarcone the acting U.S. attorney for northern
New York.
____
Associated Press writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, and
Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.
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