On December 1st, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Alina Habba was disqualified as acting US attorney of New Jersey through a federal appeals court ruling — but what does this really mean?
Habba was born in Summit, New Jersey, and attended Lehigh University, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Before deciding to go to law school at Widener University, she worked in the fashion industry for several years. Once she earned her juris doctor, she became a clerk for the New Jersey Superior Court Judge, and after years of working as an associate and then a partner at multiple firms, she proceeded to start her own firm in March of 2020.
In 2021, Habba joined Trump’s personal legal team and represented him in several prominent cases. For instance, she represented Trump in a 100-million-dollar civil lawsuit against the New York Times and his niece, Mary Trump. Additionally, she also represented Trump in a civil lawsuit against E Jean Carroll, where she got into multiple heated arguments with the judge who threatened to put her in jail. Despite people insisting that Trump fire her, he officially appointed Habba Counselor to the President in December of 2024 because of her many years of working for and supporting him during his presidential campaign.
In January of 2025, however, a series of events led to Habba’s disqualification as acting U.S. Attorney of New Jersey — a position that involves representing the U.S. government by handling federal crimes, civil cases, and enforcing federal law — arising legal disputes around her role, future, and mixed feelings about her reputation among Americans. First, in January, New Jersey’s then-U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger resigned, automatically appointing John Giordano, his first assistant, as the interim U.S. Attorney. However, an interim period only has a 120-day limit, so the Attorney General Pam Bondi replaced Giordano with Alina Habba as the next interim U.S. Attorney. When her term ended, Trump decided to nominate her to be the permanent U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. Yet, as a result of Habba’s history under Trump’s past cases and strong opposition in general, she was unlikely to succeed.
The District of New Jersey’s judges decided to appoint Desiree Grace, a career prosecutor, as interim U.S. Attorney to replace Habba. Trump and Bondi did not appreciate this and proceeded to fire Grace, which opened a window for their next tactic to keep Habba in the path. In July, Trump withdrew Habba’s nomination as permanent U.S. Attorney so Bondi could appoint her first assistant U.S. Attorney — John Giordano’s previous role — hoping she would automatically become the acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.
Despite these maneuvers, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Habba was unlawfully serving as U.S. Attorney on December 1st, 2025, because she did not get Senate confirmation to hold this position, which violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Nevertheless, Habba had still exercised U.S. Attorney powers while she was acting in the position.
Ultimately, Habba still remains a prominent lawyer for Trump, still managing her own firm, and working as a senior advisor for MAGA Inc. However, the Trump administration’s political maneuvers this year led to many questions arising among Americans about how judges will deal with Habba’s now-invalid indictments while she was acting U.S. Attorney, and what the Trump administration will do next.