Trump ally Habba resigns after court disqualified her as U.S. Attorney

WASHINGTON – Alina Habba, a former lawyer to President Donald Trump whom he later installed as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, said on Monday she was stepping down from the role after a federal appeals court found her appointment unlawful and disqualified her from supervising cases.

Habba said in a statement on X that her resignation as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey was “to protect the stability and the integrity of the office,” which faced months of uncertainty as legal challenges to her appointment played out.

“But do not mistake compliance for surrender,” Habba wrote.

Habba said she would take on a role as senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi, focusing on U.S. attorneys around the country. The Justice Department named three lawyers to take over leadership of the New Jersey office.

A three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Trump administration violated a federal appointments law in naming Habba acting U.S. attorney after judges on New Jersey’s federal District Court declined to extend her appointment.