A federal appeals court on Monday found that MAGA favorite Alina Habba was serving unlawfully as U.S. Attorney.
The trio of judges on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled unanimously to uphold the lower court decision that President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney was disqualified from the job.
Habba had been serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, but her appointment was challenged.
The appeals court found that her appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which sets out the requirements for temporarily filling vacancies.
The judges ruled that because Habba had been nominated to fill the Senate-confirmed position, she was prevented from assuming the role as acting U.S. attorney, and the attorney general also could not delegate to her the powers to serve as the top federal prosecutor in the state, circumventing the law.
The Trump loyalist was sworn in as the interim U.S. attorney in late March following the previous acting U.S. attorney’s resignation.
In June, Trump nominated Habba to the position permanently, but the Senate never acted on it amid opposition by the state’s two Democratic senators.
Acting U.S. attorneys can only serve in the position for 120 days, so ahead of the deadline, the district court issued an order that the assistant U.S. attorney would fill the position once her term expired.
Instead of stepping away from the position, Habba and the Trump administration fought back with a series of unusual steps to try to keep her in power without the Senate confirmation.
Habba resigned as interim U.S. attorney and was instead appointed a “Special Attorney” by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who claimed she could conduct proceedings, thus making her acting U.S. attorney for the government.
But two men facing charges filed motions challenging their indictments by arguing that Habba’s appointment to her position was unlawful, setting off a series of court battles.
A lower court found that Habba was, in fact, disqualified from serving as acting U.S. attorney in August, but the administration appealed the decision.
The panel of three judges, including two judges appointed by former President George W. Bush and one by former President Barack Obama, heard arguments on the case on October 20.
Reports from the courtroom at the time of the hearing were that the judges appeared deeply skeptical of the government’s arguments for keeping Habba in place.
Habba, who previously defended Trump during his fraud case and worked as a legal spokesperson for his campaign before joining the administration as a counselor to the president, attended the hearing at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia.
“As it stands, Habba alone is exercising all the powers of a U.S. Attorney, making her an Acting U.S. Attorney whose appointment is not FVRA compliant,” Judge Michael Fisher wrote in the opinion released on Monday.
The Daily Beast asked the Justice Department what it plans to do next in response to the ruling.
The decision creates new legal uncertainty about the cases Habba brought while working unlawfully in that position.
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