Panel Of Judges Oppose Interim U.S. Attorney For NJ Alina Habba

By Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor

Alina Habba speaking at an event in June.

A panel of federal judges on Tuesday named a new top federal prosecutor for New Jersey, effectively booting Alina Habba from the job she has held — amid escalating uproar — on an interim basis since March.

But within hours, top Trump administration officials disregarded the judicial order and removed Habba’s replacement, Desiree Leigh Grace, who had been Habba’s second-in-command. White House officials rebuked the “politically minded judges” who had declined to extend Habba’s service until the Senate could vote on her confirmation.

“This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the President’s core Article II powers,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi wrote on social media Tuesday evening.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche seconded that sentiment.

“The district judges in NJ just proved this was never about law—it was about politics,” he posted on social media. “They forced out President Trump’s pick (Habba), then installed her deputy, colluding with the NJ Senators along the way. It won’t work. Pursuant to the President’s authority, we have removed that deputy, effective immediately. This backroom vote will not override the authority of the Chief Executive.”

The leadership boomerang sparked widespread confusion about both who’s leading the office and whether the White House or the courts — meant to act as checks on one another — would prevail.

Habba’s 120-day tenure as acting U.S. attorney expires this week. Federal law gives district judges the power to name a U.S. attorney if the Senate does not act on a president’s nominee within 120 days. President Donald Trump nominated her for a full term last month.

Blanche had urged federal judges to keep Habba in the post, praising her “steady leadership and sound judgment” on Sunday on social media. She had the “full confidence” of Trump and the Department of Justice, Blanche wrote.

But Judge Renée Marie Bumb, chief jurist in the U.S. District Court based in Camden, announced Grace as Habba’s replacement in a terse order Tuesday afternoon, offering no insights into the court’s decision. Grace has worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2016 and became first assistant under Habba.

Habba has drawn widespread criticism during her four-month tenure, most rooted in her prosecutions of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, both Democrats whose arrests stemmed from their May visit to an immigrant jail in Newark. Her office has reportedly subpoenaed Gov. Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, over comments he made in February that suggested he might hide an undocumented immigrant in his home.

New Jersey’s senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, both Democrats, had objected to Habba taking the job permanently, accusing her earlier this month of using the office to pursue “frivolous and politically motivated prosecutions.”

Booker and Kim issued a joint statement Tuesday evening criticizing the Trump administration for firing Grace, saying it is part of a pattern of “publicly undermining judicial decisions and showing disregard for the rule of law and the separation of powers.”

“The firing of a career public servant, lawfully appointed by the court, is another blatant attempt to intimidate anyone that doesn’t agree with them and undermine judicial independence. This Administration may not like the law, but they are not above it,” they said.

Habba did not comment publicly on Tuesday’s developments, but Blanche blasted the judges for their “left-wing agenda.”

“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,” he wrote on social media.

Bumb, a Republican, was nominated to the bench in 2006 by President George W. Bush.

A White House spokesman said Tuesday afternoon that Trump remains committed to Habba.

“President Trump has full confidence in Alina Habba, whose work as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey has made the Garden State and the nation safer,” spokesman Harrison Fields said. “The Trump Administration looks forward to her final confirmation in the U.S. Senate and will work tirelessly to ensure the people of New Jersey are well represented.”

New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on Facebook and Twitter.

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