Alina Habba announced on social media that she is the Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
“I don’t cower to pressure. I don’t answer to politics,” she wrote, “This is a fight for justice. And I’m all in.”
The development comes as the Department of Justice shifted its nomination of Habba as interim U.S. attorney to acting U.S. attorney. The latter has a 210-day term limit, whereas the interim role has a 120-day limit.
This week, a New Jersey federal court panel removed Habba from her interim role as U.S. Attorney, refusing to extend her 120‑day appointment. The judges appointed her first assistant, Desiree Leigh Grace.
Upon Habba’s departure, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the district judges “forced out” Trump’s attorney. “It won’t work. Pursuant to the President’s authority, we have removed that deputy, effective immediately,” he wrote on social media. “This backroom vote will not override the authority of the Chief Executive.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly removed Grace.
Grace issued a statement on the matter on LinkedIn, writing, “It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent the United States and to serve the people of New Jersey for the last nine years.”
“I’ve served under both Republican and Democratic administrations. I’ve been promoted four times in the last five years by both — including four months ago by this administration,” she added. “Politics never impacted my work at the Department. Priorities change, of course, and resources are shifted, but the work and the mission were steady.”
