A potential showdown is looming over who will succeed Alina Habba as U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, with her interim appointment set to expire Friday.
Desiree Leigh Grace, a senior prosecutor dismissed by the Justice Department on Tuesday after being selected by the state’s federal judges to replace Habba, is insisting she will assume the role “in accordance with the law.”
To take the post, Grace would need to be sworn in by a federal judge just after midnight Friday, the moment Alina Habba’s interim term ends—putting her in direct defiance of Attorney General Pam Bondi, who recently removed her from her role as New Jersey’s first assistant U.S. attorney.
The Justice Department has not revealed its next steps, though both Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche have condemned Grace’s appointment, accusing the judges of acting with political motives and trying to override President Donald Trump’s authority to appoint U.S. attorneys. If Grace moves forward and assumes the position, the president could still remove her.
The Justice Department could still sidestep the judges by having Habba step down before midnight Friday and swiftly naming a new interim U.S. attorney—a tactic it has employed in other instances.
On Wednesday, Grace posted a lengthy message on LinkedIn, thanking her colleagues and rejecting claims that politics influenced her work. She concluded with a defiant pledge to assume the role to which she was appointed by the judges, CNN reported.
“Yesterday the District Judges for the District of New Jersey selected me to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. It will forever be the greatest honor that they selected me on merit, and I’m prepared to follow that Order and begin to serve in accordance with the law,” she wrote.
Grace continued, “I’ve served under both Republican and Democratic administrations. I’ve been promoted four times in the last five years by both — including four months ago by this administration. Politics never impacted my work at the Department.”
