Politics
NEW: Liberal Judges Collude Against Alina Habba
A coterie of federal judges booted U.S. Attorney Alina Habba from her position atop New Jersey law enforcement on Tuesday after less than four months on the job.
Habba, a former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, was appointed to the vacant position in March following the resignation of a Biden official. Since then she has operated under an executive order affording her 120 days as a U.S. attorney without approval from the New Jersey district court, which declined to accept her nomination.
Instead, Desiree Leigh Grace has been appointed “effective July 22, 2025, or ‘upon the expiration of 120 days after appointment by the Attorney General’ of the Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, whichever is later.” The order was signed by Chief Judge Renée Marie Bumb.
U.S. attorneys require confirmation by the U.S. Senate, and it was unclear from the outset whether Habba – a pugnacious defender of Trump during his criminal trials – would have cleared the 51-vote threshold. Allies of Habba held out hope that the district court would instead agree to accept her tenure.
Habba served as a top legal advisor and spokesperson during President Trump’s 2023 and 2024 civil trials, frequently engaging with reporters and fellow legal analysts to discuss the merits of each case. She drew both headlines and approval from Trump for her willingness to accuse the FBI, special counsel Jack Smith, and Democratic prosecutors of political bias.
She briefly worked in the White House as counsel to President Trump before she was tapped to serve as U.S. attorney.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote on X shortly before the decision, “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 system. Alina is President Trump’s choice to lead—and no partisan bench can override that.”
Blanche previously urged New Jersey’s district courts to accept Habba, citing the U.S. Department of Justice’s “full confidence” in her ability to fulfill the duties of U.S. attorney for the state.
Habba’s nomination still sits before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has been unable to secure the necessary support for a full Senate vote. She is the second Trump nominee to face difficulty there after Ed Martin, the president’s pick for U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., saw his nomination scuttled amid questions about his past legal stances, CNN reported.
Where Habba goes next is unclear. However, President Trump has prized loyalty above all else, and the former defense attorney is nothing but that to him.
She is a native of New Jersey who segued from the fashion industry into law after receiving her degree in 2010 from the Widener University Commonwealth Law School. It wasn’t until 2019, when Habba met Trump as a new member at his Bedminster golf course, that she came to represent him in some of the biggest legal battles of his long career.