President Donald Trump withdrew Alina Habba's nomination for U.S. attorney for New Jersey on Thursday, a calculated move that will allow her to remain in the position in an acting capacity amid a high-stakes showdown with federal judges who had attempted to replace her, CBS News reported.
The decision follows a clash between the executive branch and the federal judiciary after a panel of district judges in New Jersey named Desiree Leigh Grace to the position, bypassing Habba and sparking backlash from top officials at the Department of Justice.
"This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the president's core Article II powers," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X.
Grace had been serving as Habba's deputy and was selected by the judges just as Habba's 120-day acting term was set to expire. The court's order, signed by Chief Judge Renee Bumb, made Grace's appointment effective on Tuesday or upon Habba's term expiration.
But Habba pushed back publicly, declaring in a Thursday post on X:
"Donald J. Trump is the 47th President. Pam Bondi is the Attorney General. And I am now the Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. I don't cower to pressure. I don't answer to politics. This is a fight for justice. And I'm all in."
Her status was confirmed by a Justice Department official, who stated that the withdrawal of her Senate nomination makes her eligible to serve as acting U.S. attorney for up to 210 days under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
Trump appointed Habba to the interim position on March 24. Her Senate nomination, submitted June 30, had blocked her from continuing in an acting capacity until Trump withdrew it Thursday.
That move sidesteps opposition from New Jersey's two senators, Democrats Cory Booker and Andy Kim, who declined to return positive "blue slips," effectively halting her confirmation process under Senate tradition.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who served with Habba on Trump's legal defense team, said her tenure ends Friday, but added that she remains the administration's preferred choice.
"This backroom vote will not override the authority of the Chief Executive," Blanche wrote on social media.
Constitutional law expert Thomas Berry noted the unusual intersection of two laws governing such appointments — the statute that allows judges to name a U.S. attorney after 120 days, and the Vacancies Act, which permits the president to appoint acting officials under certain conditions.
"Subdelegation is so easy to do throughout the executive branch," Berry said.
Grace acknowledged the controversy Wednesday in a LinkedIn post, signaling her intent to comply with the judges' appointment order.
"It will forever be the greatest honor that they selected me on merit, and I'm prepared to follow that Order and begin to serve in accordance with the law," she wrote.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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