Alina Habba, the former lawyer to President Donald Trump, has resigned from her position as acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey on Monday (8 December) after a federal appeals court ruled that her appointment was unlawful.

The decision disqualified Habba from overseeing cases, bringing months of legal uncertainty regarding her appointment to a close.

Habba, who was appointed to the role by Trump in March, issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter), explaining that her resignation was necessary "to protect the stability and integrity of the office." She acknowledged the ongoing legal challenges to her appointment, which had created a cloud of uncertainty over her tenure.

"However, do not mistake compliance for surrender," Habba said, signalling that her resignation was not an admission of defeat but rather a strategic move to safeguard the office’s functioning amid the legal challenges.

In her statement, Habba also announced she would be taking on a new role as senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi. In this capacity, she will focus on U.S. Attorneys across the country. Following her resignation, the Justice Department appointed three experienced lawyers to oversee leadership of the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey on an interim basis.

The Justice Department has not yet appealed the ruling, but Bondi said in a statement on Monday that it planned "to seek further review" of the decision and would reinstall Habba in the role if it were reversed. The department could ask either the U.S. Supreme Court or the full Third Circuit court to intervene.

Habba and Bondi both criticised federal judges in New Jersey for declining to extend Habba's appointment and pausing criminal cases after courts disqualified Habba from supervising them. Habba touted what she said was a decline in violent crime in major New Jersey cities and accused the courts of becoming "weapons for the politicised left."

The resignation came after a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled last week that the Trump administration had violated federal law by appointing Habba as acting U.S. attorney. 

The three-judge panel that deemed Habba's appointment unlawful included two appointees of Republican President George W. Bush and one nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama.

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