By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Alina Habba, said on Thursday that she would seek to remain as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey despite a judicial decision this week not to extend her appointment.
Habba's statement marked the latest challenge by the Trump administration to oversight by federal courts.
Habba wrote on X that she was now the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey. The Justice Department used a series of procedural maneuvers
to attempt to circumvent the Tuesday decision by the U.S. District Court in New Jersey and keep her in the post, a department spokesperson told Reuters.
"I don’t cower to pressure," Habba wrote on X. "I don’t answer to politics."
Judges on the U.S. District Court in New Jersey declined to extend Habba’s tenure as interim U.S. attorney, instead naming the second-highest ranking official in the office, Desiree Grace, as her replacement.
But hours later Attorney General Pam Bondi said Grace had been removed, accusing the judges of having political motivations and seeking to thwart Trump’s authority.
U.S. law allows federal district courts to intervene if an interim U.S. attorney’s 120-day term expires and courts have regularly invoked that authority.
Grace, in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, said she was “prepared to follow” the court’s order and “begin to serve in accordance with the law.”
It was not immediately clear if either Grace or the District Court judges would attempt to challenge the maneuvers. Neither could immediately be reached for comment.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, in Virginia, said the Trump administration appeared to have the legal authority for its moves, but they could further strain its relationship with federal courts.
"It does undermine that authority from Congress," Tobias said, referring to courts' role in the process. "But that doesn't trouble this White House or this Justice Department."
The judiciary has emerged as one of the few checks on Trump’s aggressive use of presidential power in his second term. White House officials have accused judges who have blocked parts of Trump’s agenda they have deemed unlawful of exceeding their authority and taking part in a “judicial coup.”
Habba has brought two criminal cases against Democratic officials during her time in office and drew criticism after saying she hoped to use her role to aid Republicans in New Jersey.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Matthew Lewis)
