What’s going on with Alina Habba? What to know about the drama in the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey

There’s drama happening in the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey, and it’s leaving questions over who is actually in charge of federal prosecutors in the state.

President Donald Trump named his former personal lawyer Alina Habba to the position of interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey in March — for a period of 120 days.

Sounds simple, right? Well, Trump officials and federal judges disagree over when that actually takes place as the president faces barriers to keep her in the role long term.

In preparation of the clock running out on Habba’s temporary assignment, federal judges in the Garden State appointed Habba’s first assistant and longtime prosecutor Desiree Leigh Grace to the role on Tuesday.

The order said Grace would take on the role starting Tuesday or 120 days from Habba’s appointment, whichever is later. It cites a federal law that specifies that the 120-day clock begins upon appointment, which for Habba was March 22 and would run out on Tuesday.

But Trump officials have argued that Habba has until Friday, which would mark 120 days from when she was actually sworn in on March 28.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Grace was fired in what seemed to be an effort to preserve Habba’s power. Bondi’s announcement has raised questions about who is, or will be, the state’s top prosecutor.

Habba, 41, worked as a partner in a small law firm near Trump’s Bedminster golf course in New Jersey before she began representing him in his personal cases in 2021.

Habba worked as a senior adviser for Trump’s political action committee, as a campaign spokesperson for him, and as a counselor to him as president. She was undoubtedly an unconventional pick for New Jersey’s top federal law enforcement official, with no prosecutorial experience and most of her experience in state courts, not federal.

Habba has drawn criticism for politicizing the office during her few months in the role. She has pursued charges and investigations against Democratic elected officials in New Jersey and said she wants to help flip New Jersey red in the position.

She was admonished by a federal judge over trespassing charges she filed against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, which she quickly dropped before criminally charging U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver over the same scuffle with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.

Republicans in New Jersey, including GOP nominee for governor Jack Ciattarelli, have praised those efforts.

Trump first hired Habba in 2021 to represent him in a lawsuit against the New York Times and his niece Mary L. Trump, which a judge dismissed. Habba has represented Trump on various other personal cases, including when he was ordered to pay damages for attacking E. Jean Carroll, a woman who successfully sued Trump for sexual abuse. Habba was scolded by the judge in that case for botching procedure and misstating the law.

Habba and Trump were fined in 2023 over a lawsuit against his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton that a federal judge in Florida called “a lawsuit that should never have been filed, which was completely frivolous, both factually and legally, and which was brought in bad faith for an improper purpose.”

Bondi said on social media that Habba “has been doing a great job in making NJ safe again.”

Habba’s temporary position expires this week, and she would need to be confirmed by the Senate to serve a full term, or a panel of federal district court judges in the state could vote to keep her on until a nomination is confirmed or replace her with someone else.

Trump nominated Habba to serve a full term, but Senate tradition looks to the senators from the state to determine whether a U.S. attorney nomination should even make it to the floor for a full vote. Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker, both Democrats representing New Jersey, spoke out against Habba, making it unlikely that the Senate would confirm her.

When a panel of judges was asked by the Trump administration to keep Habba on, they appointed Grace instead, a move that Kim and Booker both expressed support for.

Trump’s administration has continued to stand by Habba.

It’s currently unclear what their plan is for Habba and the prosecutor’s office, but they may circumvent the process to get their way.

John Sarcone, Trump’s pick for U.S. Attorney in New York, was also recently rejected by panel of federal judges. So in what appears to be an unprecedented move, Sarcone was named “special attorney to the attorney general,” essentially being appointed as his own assistant while maintaining the same power, the New York Times reported.