A new front in Trump's clash with the judiciary: Appointing prosecutors

Mint

27-07-2025

President Trump's administration has opened a new front in its widening battle with the judiciary, sparring with federal courts over his picks to lead U.S. attorney's offices around the country.
Trump has submitted more than 30 U.S. attorney nominations to the Senate. Because of a rift between Republicans and Democrats, lawmakers haven't confirmed any of them. That has put federal judges in the hot seat because the law requires them to appoint lead district prosecutors if Congress doesn't. The president's picks can serve for 120 days in an interim capacity. Once the clock ticks down, the courts must decide if his nominees can stay.
Twice already, the answer has been no, prompting the administration to circumvent those decisions.
The biggest flashpoint has been Trump's former personal lawyer, Alina Habba, who was nominated to be U.S. attorney in New Jersey. She had been serving in an interim capacity since late March, but the state's federal district judges last week declined to install her, appointing her top assistant—a career prosecutor, Desiree Grace—instead. Hours later, Grace was fired by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. The White House has since withdrawn Habba's nomination and reinstated her in a new acting capacity, to reset the time limits.
'I am now the Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey," Habba wrote on X. 'I don't cower to pressure. I don't answer to politics."
Her office has been thrown into disarray, with some prosecutors fearing grand-jury indictments and plea deals could be challenged by defense attorneys over questions about Habba's status, said people familiar with the matter. It couldn't be determined whether Grace would go quietly. 'I'm prepared to follow that Order and begin to serve in accordance with the law," she wrote in a LinkedIn message after she was fired. She didn't respond to a request for comment.
Bill Essayli, interim U.S. attorney, speaking in June on the Palm Springs, Calif., fertility-clinic bombing.
Other fights are brewing. In Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, interim U.S. attorney, said his soon-to-expire appointment is unlikely to be extended by judges. Essayli is an outspoken Trump supporter who made waves trying to prosecute people who violently protested against immigration enforcement.
Several prosecutors in Essayli's office resigned in May after he proposed a misdemeanor plea deal to a sheriff's deputy who had been convicted by a jury of a felony charge of using excessive force.
Essayli said last week on Glenn Beck's radio program that he was 'up against very hostile judges" in Southern California and didn't expect to get their support. The Trump administration has 'tricks up our sleeves" to help the president get 'his prosecutors in place," he said.
Legal scholars and former federal judges said the recent clashes tie into Trump's push to assert executive power over another branch of government by disparaging judicial decisions and slow-walking compliance with court orders.
'I think that's part of his war on the judiciary," said Shira Scheindlin, a former federal judge. 'Who is ultimately in charge? Me, not you."
Each district has its own practices and culture for voting on whether to ratify an interim U.S. attorney. Typically judges examine a candidate's qualifications such as previous service as a prosecutor. They also consider whether the U.S. attorney's office is running well, including whether assistant U.S. attorneys are exiting the office in high numbers.
'They want somebody that they can trust who wouldn't use the position as a political bullhorn or for carrying out the administration's broader political agenda," said Jeremy Fogel, a former federal judge and the executive director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute. The votes can lead to spirited conversations between judges, with some working behind the scenes to whip up support.
The Justice Department declined to comment about the clashes. In a social-media post last week after the New Jersey judges voted against Habba, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said, 'Alina is President Trump's choice to lead—and no partisan bench can override that."
Senate Democrats have blocked the nominees from easily clearing the chamber, saying Republicans did something similar during the Biden administration. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) has put a hold on Justice Department nominees in protest of Trump's acceptance of a luxury airplane from the Qatari government.
A dozen of Trump's U.S. attorney picks have passed through the first stage of confirmation by clearing the Senate Judiciary Committee. On Thursday, one of them was Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host picked after an earlier nominee, Ed Martin, lacked support among Republicans to win confirmation.
Republican and Democratic staff members on the Judiciary Committee are now engaged in talks to break the logjam, according to people familiar with the matter.
Among others facing potential votes from judges in the coming weeks is Jay Clayton, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who took office about two months after an acting U.S. attorney resigned in protest over the Justice Department's order to dismiss the bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. More recently, the department's firing of career prosecutor Maurene Comey angered her colleagues and Southern District office alums, leading some to question whether Clayton had made efforts to stop it.
Clayton has made an effort to talk to judges, and some have asked him tough questions, including about the Adams case, said people familiar with the matter. Such meetings are typical.
An office spokesman declined to comment.
In northern New York, federal judges declined to appoint John Sarcone, Trump's interim pick for the job there—but didn't choose an alternative to take his place. In an unusual workaround, Bondi essentially gave Sarcone his job back through a series of maneuvers, including naming him as 'special attorney to the attorney general."
Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former Justice Department official, said the selection process has worked smoothly in the past because previous presidents moved on to a new candidate when their picks weren't approved by a court or confirmed by the Senate. The law doesn't address the scenario playing out with Habba, he said. 'We are dealing with issues we never dealt with before," he said.
Write to James Fanelli at [e-mail], Dave Michaels at [e-mail] and Corinne Ramey at [e-mail]