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

Alina Habba speaks with reporters outside the White House, March 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

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

Habba said in a statement posted to 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 said in the post.

Habba said she would take on a new 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 office in New Jersey.

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.

Reporting by Jasper Ward and Andrew Goudsward; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Ryan Patrick Jones and Cynthia Osterman