Alina Habba, the former personal attorney to Donald Trump who was appointed earlier this year to serve as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, announced Monday that she is resigning. The move from Habba follows a decisive federal appeals court ruling that found she had been installed in the role without proper legal authority.
In a statement posted to X, Habba wrote that “as a result of the Third Circuit’s ruling, and to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love, I have decided to step down in my role as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey,” adding later, “do not mistake compliance for surrender.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed she had accepted Habba’s resignation, saying the appeals court’s decision had made it “untenable for her to effectively run her office.” Bondi, who criticized the ruling, said Habba will continue serving as a “senior advisor to the Attorney General for U.S. Attorneys” and that the Justice Department intends to appeal the decision. She added that Habba hopes to return to the job if the ruling is overturned.
Habba’s departure ends a months-long dispute over whether she could legally lead the New Jersey office without Senate confirmation. The controversy began in August, when a federal judge ruled she was serving “without lawful authority,” a decision upheld unanimously last week by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Although Bondi attempted to keep her in place by designating her a “Special Attorney to the Attorney General,” the courts’ findings continued to cast doubt on her authority, prompting delays in several proceedings.
Before her appointment, Habba represented Trump in high-profile civil and defamation cases. Her legal work has drawn increasing scrutiny: last month, a federal appeals court upheld a $1 million sanction against her and Trump for filing a frivolous lawsuit targeting former FBI Director James Comey and Hillary Clinton.
The administration’s broader effort to place Trump-aligned attorneys in top federal prosecutor roles has faced repeated setbacks. Judges across multiple jurisdictions have rejected similar appointments, including the recent removal of Lindsey Halligan—another Trump ally—from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. That ruling also led to the dismissal of criminal cases involving Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, and a grand jury last week declined to revive the James case.
Tensions escalated further on Monday when Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a joint statement rebuking judges who questioned Halligan’s authority, accusing them of “engaging in an unconscionable campaign of bias and hostility.” The statement said that “Lindsey and our attorneys are simply doing their jobs: advocating for the Department of Justice’s positions while following guidance from the Office of Legal Counsel. They do not deserve to have their reputations questioned in court for ethically advocating on behalf of their client. This Department of Justice has no tolerance for undemocratic judicial activism.”
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