“Do Not Mistake Compliance For Surrender” – Alina Habba Steps Down As Acting US Attorney For New Jersey

Alina Habba, the former personal attorney to President Trump, is stepping down from her contested position atop the federal prosecuting office in New Jersey.

“As a result of the Third Circuit’s ruling, and to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love, I have decided to step down in my role,” she said in a statement posted on X on Monday.

Habba’s resignation came after district and appellate court rulings which found she was unlawfully serving in the role, a powerful post charged with enforcing federal criminal and civil law.

The Trump administration had been attempting to keep Habba in place after her interim appointment expired and she had not received US Senate confirmation.

Habba’s statement Monday said “do not mistake compliance for surrender”.

“Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl,” Habba’s statement said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Habba would remain at the Department of Justice as senior advisor to the attorney general for U.S. Attorneys.

“I am saddened to accept Alina’s resignation,” Bondi said, calling the appellate court’s decision “flawed”.

Sack Smith was an illegally appointed Special Prosecutor, but he never stepped down. His role violated the Appointments Clause (U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2), which requires principal officers to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, while inferior officers can be appointed by department heads if Congress authorizes it by law.

Smith, a private citizen at the time, was appointed directly by Garland without presidential nomination or Senate approval. Critics like former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, law professors Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson, and Texas AG Ken Paxton contend this made Smith a “principal officer” with unchecked power (e.g., nationwide prosecutorial authority exceeding that of Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys). They argue no statute explicitly vests the attorney general with power to create a “special counsel” role with such authority, rendering actions like indictments “null and void.”

AI Overview

Many Republican senators have expressed strong support for retaining 
the "blue slip" tradition for district court and U.S. attorney nominees, 
largely as a mechanism to preserve home-state influence and
prevent future Democratic administrations from appointing liberal judges in conservative states. 

Senators who have publicly supported keeping the blue slip process include:

Chuck Grassley (R-IA): 
As a former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley has been a staunch defender of the practice, 
arguing that it helps set nominees up for successful confirmations 
and was used by Republicans to block liberal judges during the Biden administration.

John Thune (R-SD): 
The current Senate Majority Leader has consistently defended the practice, 
noting both sides have used it historically and 
that there is little interest in changing it within the GOP conference.

Thom Tillis (R-NC): 
A member of the Judiciary Committee, 
Tillis called the idea of eliminating blue slips a "terrible, short-sighted ploy" 
that would ultimately benefit Democrats in the long term.

Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Jim Risch (R-ID): 
Both Idaho senators have long supported the process, 
using it to ensure consultation and influence over judicial appointments 
within their home state during Democratic administrations.

John Kennedy (R-LA): 
A Judiciary Committee member, Kennedy has stated that "The Senate's not going to give up the blue slip" 
and appealed to others not to create a fight over the issue. 

In general, most Senate Republicans are unified 
in their opposition to ending the blue slip for district-level nominees, 
seeing it as an important institutional power that protects their ability 
to have a say in local federal appointments, 
regardless of who occupies the White House.

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