Alina Habba was ruled to have illegally led the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey since July 1, which places prosecutions under her authority in legal jeopardy. The administration has appealed the ruling. Habba was appointed as an interim U.S. attorney under a statute allowing temporary appointments that expire after 120 days, after which district judges may appoint a successor. Senate confirmation and related statutes are designed to prevent appointments based on personal loyalty. The methods used to install Habba have disrupted prosecutors' work in New Jersey and could create uncertainty in other districts.
Last Thursday, a judge ruled that Alina Habba, Donald Trump's pick to head the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, has been illegally leading the office since July 1. That doesn't just cause problems for Habba going forward: If Habba was not legitimately in office, the prosecutions that took place under her are all now in question. The administration has appealed the ruling. "I am the pick of the president," Habba insisted on Fox News. "I will serve this country."
The statutes that allow temporary appointments are structured that way for a reason. As with all Senate-confirmed positions, the Senate's constitutional power to advise and consent on U.S.-attorney nominations is meant as a check against the president selecting candidates whose only merit, as described in The Federalist Papers, is "of being in some way or other personally allied to him, or of possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the obsequious instruments of his pleasure."
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