In a dramatic turn of events shaking up New Jersey’s legal power structure, Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired the newly installed replacement for Alina Habba, just hours after a federal judicial panel voted to oust Habba as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
The move marks a swift and decisive response by AG Bondi, signaling zero tolerance for what insiders are calling a politically motivated shuffle orchestrated by entrenched judicial elites.
Alina Habba, a high-profile legal ally of President Trump and a prominent litigator known for her aggressive courtroom style, had been serving as interim U.S. Attorney after being appointed by the Trump administration earlier this year. Her appointment was met with fierce resistance from the federal bench in New Jersey — a judiciary long dominated by establishment Democrats and legacy appointees of the Obama-Biden era.
On Monday morning, a judicial panel voted in a rare maneuver to remove Habba from her post, citing vague concerns over “professional conduct” and “administrative discretion.” Legal observers, however, have described the move as little more than a hit job on a Trump-aligned figure who was cleaning house and asking inconvenient questions.
In response, Bondi fired the judges’ handpicked replacement — whose name has not been publicly released — calling the appointment “illegitimate, unserious, and politically tainted.”
“This office will not be used as a tool for judicial activism or political vendettas,” Bondi said in a brief but blistering statement. “I will not stand by while the swamp tries to install one of its own to block real justice from being served in New Jersey.”
.@USAttyHabba has been doing a great job in making NJ safe again. Nonetheless, politically minded judges refused to allow her to continue in her position, replacing Alina with the First Assistant.
Accordingly, the First Assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey has just…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) July 22, 2025
Bondi is reportedly preparing to install a new acting U.S. Attorney pending further investigation, and insiders say the Justice Department is reviewing the judges’ vote to determine whether it was conducted in violation of federal appointment standards.
Habba’s ousting and the ensuing fallout are just the latest skirmish in a broader fight between the America First legal movement and the institutional forces that have long controlled key judicial and prosecutorial offices.
For now, Bondi is drawing a hard line — and if her latest actions are any indication, the fight for control of the Justice Department is far from over.
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