Habba takes on role as Bondi advisor, leaving job as NJ top cop

Alina Habba, a staunch Trump loyalist, is leaving her post as New Jersey’s top prosecutor after an appeals court ruled last week that Attorney General Pam Bondi wrongly appointed her as U.S. attorney.

Bondi announced Monday that Habba would serve as senior advisor to the attorney general, overseeing the U.S. attorneys, while three Justice Department officials are expected to take on additional duties to oversee various activities in the Judicial District of New Jersey following Habba’s resignation.

Habba served as President Donald Trump’s personal attorney before the president installed her as temporary head of the New Jersey office this year.

Once Habba’s term expired, the administration took a series of unconventional steps to try to reinstate her, but a three-judge panel ruled last week that federal vacancy laws did not allow Trump and the DOJ to circumvent the Senate confirmation process to keep Habba in charge.

Trump was hit with a setback as the court ruled that Alina Habba had illegally served as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey.

President Donald Trump speaks as Attorney General Pam Bondi swears in Alina Habba as Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, March 28, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Habba’s departure comes as Trump struggles to keep his preferred nominees in place in blue states, where the Senate has a tradition of requiring home-state senators to approve the U.S. attorneys and district court judges who serve there.

In another case, a federal judge found that Lindsey Halligan, a former insurance lawyer and White House aide, was illegally serving as chief of the Eastern District of Virginia. In a statement released Monday, DOJ leaders rejected that conclusion, calling Halligan an “American lawyer” and a victim of judicial bias.

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Halligan quickly filed suit against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, but the judge threw out both cases after finding Halligan lacked the authority to bring them.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.