The decision was confirmed by Habba and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday
Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba confirmed Monday that she is resigning from her position after a federal appeals court ruled that she was serving in it unlawfully.
In statements on social media, both Habba and Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed Habba’s decision to step down. Habba said that the move would protect “the stability and integrity of the office which I love” while Bondi was critical of the appeals court order.
— Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) December 8, 2025
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 8, 2025
“But do not mistake compliance for surrender,” Habba, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, said in a post on X. “This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me.”
Habba’s announcement was made after a monthslong legal fight regarding whether she could remain as U.S. attorney for New Jersey without confirmation in the Senate.
The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week found that the Trump administration was in violation of the law after it sought to keep Habba as the state’s top federal prosecutor after she could not get support in the Senate, and the Justice Department (DOJ) has not yet appealed. In August, a federal judge ruled that Habba was serving in the position without legal authority.
“It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place. Its efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, to the role of Acting U.S. Attorney demonstrate the difficulties it has faced—yet the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability,” the court wrote in its opinion.
The judges also questioned the government’s moves to keep Habba in place after her interim appointment expired and without her getting Senate confirmation.
The government argued that Habba is validly serving in the role under a federal statute allowing the first assistant attorney to do so, a post to which she was appointed by the Trump administration.
In a statement on Monday, Bondi described the appeals court ruling as “flawed” and said she is “saddened to accept” Habba’s resignation, but stressed that the DOJ will review the court’s decision.
“The court’s ruling has made it untenable for her to effectively run her office, with politicized judges pausing trials designed to bring violent criminals to justice,” the attorney general added.
“These judges should not be able to countermand President Trump’s choice of attorneys.”
Habba will seek a return to the state’s U.S. attorney position despite the setback, Bondi said.
