The Daily Fuckup

Federal judges in New Jersey moved on July 22 to replace Alina Habba as interim U.S. attorney for the district, appointing her deputy, Desiree Leigh Grace, to the job under the statute that governs interim vacancies. The court’s standing order said Grace’s appointment was effective July 22, 2025, or when Habba’s 120-day interim term expired, whichever came later. ([njd.uscourts.gov](https://www.njd.uscourts.gov/sites/njd/files/StandingOrder2025-03USAttyAppointment.pdf?utm_source=openai))

The Justice Department then moved quickly to remove Grace, turning the appointment fight into a second dispute over whether the executive branch could undo what the court had done. That sequence matters: the judges did not simply decline to keep Habba in place. They chose a successor, and DOJ’s response created a new legal question almost immediately. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/63ffc37d0c7afe5ba431b5b414a7eb92?utm_source=openai))

Habba, a former personal lawyer for Donald Trump and one of his most visible defense attorneys, had already been a politically loaded pick for a federal prosecutorial post. Trump formally nominated her for the permanent job on July 1, 2025, after serving in the interim slot. The two Democratic senators from New Jersey, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, opposed the nomination, which stalled the confirmation process. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/63ffc37d0c7afe5ba431b5b414a7eb92?utm_source=openai))

The July 22 order did not end the matter. It set off another round of litigation and personnel maneuvers over who could lawfully act as the district’s top federal prosecutor. That left the office in a familiar position for the month: in the middle of a power struggle about appointment law, with the underlying question still unresolved. ([njd.uscourts.gov](https://www.njd.uscourts.gov/sites/njd/files/StandingOrder2025-03USAttyAppointment.pdf?utm_source=openai))