Hold onto your hats, folks—Alina Habba, once Donald Trump’s personal legal eagle, has been officially grounded by a federal appeals court in her bid to serve as New Jersey’s top prosecutor.
The saga, riddled with political roadblocks and legal tangles, boils down to a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that Habba’s appointment as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey was not on the up-and-up, Breitbart reported.
Let’s rewind to the beginning of this courtroom drama, where Habba, after serving as Trump’s personal attorney, was tapped as counselor to the president before being thrust into the role of New Jersey’s acting U.S. attorney in March.
Things got dicey fast when her 120-day interim stint ended in July, and district court judges opted for her chief deputy, Desiree Grace, to take the reins instead.
But the Department of Justice wasn’t having it—they fired Grace mere hours after her selection, clearing the way for U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to slot Habba back into a deputy role with acting control over the office.
It’s the kind of bureaucratic shuffle that makes you wonder if anyone in Washington has a flowchart for who’s actually in charge.
The plot thickened when two New Jersey criminal defendants challenged the constitutionality of Habba’s appointment, leading to a pivotal August ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann that declared her placement unlawful.
Monday’s decision by a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit upheld Brann’s call, affirming that the process behind Habba’s role didn’t pass legal muster, though the defendants’ criminal cases weren’t tossed out.
This isn’t just a procedural nitpick—it’s a stark reminder that even in a system craving strong leadership, the rule of law isn’t a suggestion.
Behind the scenes, the Trump administration has fought tooth and nail to keep Habba in the position, despite her nomination stalling in the U.S. Senate due to a lack of blue slips from New Jersey’s Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has refused to budge on advancing her nomination without those slips, drawing sharp rebukes from both Habba and Trump himself.
Speaking on Fox News in August, Habba didn’t hold back, saying, “Cory Booker and Andy Kim — who I have never, to this day, spoken to in my life, despite my attempts to meet them — have truly, truly done us a disservice.”
Trump, never one to shy from a fight, took to Truth Social in July to jab at Grassley, stating, “Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen.”
Let’s unpack that—if loyalty is currency in politics, Trump’s clearly cashing a check he believes Grassley owes, but this blue slip tradition isn’t bending, and it’s stalling more than just Habba’s ambitions.
While Habba has stayed mum on the latest court ruling, the broader implications are clear: this fight over process and power could head to the Supreme Court, as some outlets like The Washington Post have suggested, to finally settle questions around the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
