Alina Haba speaks after being sworn in as New Jersey Attorney General in the Oval Office of the White House on March 28, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Alina Haba, President Donald Trump’s pick to be New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, remains disqualified from holding office in either a permanent or acting capacity, a U.S. appeals court ruled Monday.
In a 32-page opinion, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit unanimously upheld a lower federal court’s Aug. 21 ruling that Haba was illegally appointed.
“It is clear that the current administration is frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to securing appointees,” Circuit Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote in his appellate ruling.
The unusual series of legal steps taken by the Justice Department to appoint Mr. Haba, one of President Trump’s former personal lawyers, as acting U.S. attorney illustrates “the challenges that the department has faced,” Fisher wrote.
“However, the residents of New Jersey and the loyal employees of the U.S. Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability,” the judge wrote.
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