The uncertainty surrounding the federal courts in the District of New Jersey continues.
At least one trial is being moved to Pennsylvania after the defendant filed a challenge to the authority of acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, according to reports.
The drug and weapons case against Julien Giraud Jr. was set to start next week but his attorney is arguing that Habba’s appointment is in violation of the law.
Giraud’s attorney, Thomas Mirigliano, filed paperwork on July 27 and a New Jersey judge opted on July 28 to transfer it the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Last week, as Habba’s 120-day appointment as interim U.S. attorney was set to expire on July 25, and the state’s U.S. District Court judges had opted to appoint someone else to the role instead of extending Habba’s tenure.
Alina Habba, counselor to U.S. President Donald Trump, attends the commencement ceremony at West Point Military Academy in West Point, New York, U.S., May 24, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Desiree Leigh Grace, the first assistant U.S. attorney for New Jersey, was chosen to replace Habba. After that decision was made public, top officials at the Justice Department, including Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, posted on social media that Grace had been removed.
They alleged that the decision of the judges would “threaten” and “undermine” the president.
Grace shared a post of her own on July 23 that called it the “honor of a lifetime to represent the United States and to serve the people of New Jersey for the last nine years.”
She said the judges chose her to serve as the United States attorney for the District of New Jersey and that she was “prepared to follow that order and begin to serve in accordance with the law.”
Grace said the decision was based on merit and that during her tenure she had served under both Republican and Democratic administrations and was promoted four times in the last five years, “including four months ago by this administration.”
More: Alina Habba, named acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, faces ethics scrutiny
But the Trump administration tried to utilize a workaround. The Justice Department changed her status from interim to acting to allow Habba to continue leading the office for the next 210 days.
Habba announced that move in a social media post as well.
The post says: “Donald J. Trump is the 47th President. Pam Bondi is the Attorney General. And I am now the Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. I don’t cower to pressure. I don’t answer to politics. This is a fight for justice. And I’m all in.”
Mirigliano wrote in filings on July 28 that the Trump administration’s actions were in violation of the law because Habba’s nomination to be the permanent U.S. Attorney disqualifies her from being acting U.S. Attorney and because the federal court system has the “exclusive authority” to choose a new U.S. Attorney when an interim U.S. Attorney’s term expires.
This development was first reported by the New Jersey Globe.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Court case challenges acting US Attorney Alina Habba authority