WASHINGTON — Acting New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba announced she is stepping down as the Garden State’s top federal prosecutor due to an appeals court ruling that found she was disqualified from the role.

“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 as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey,” Habba said in a statement.

“But do not mistake compliance for surrender. This decision will not weaken the Justice Department, and it will not weaken me.”

Acting New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba resigned Dec. 8, 2025, after an appeals court ruling that found she was disqualified from the role. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post

President Trump had tapped Habba, who previously served as his personal attorney and later a White House advisor, for the role in an acting capacity in March.

But her time as New Jersey’s top fed was torpedoed after defendants in two separate criminal cases cried foul, claiming she was never legally in the job to begin with because Trump’s appointment violated a 1998 law governing federal vacancies.

A lower-court judge sided with them, tossing out work she’d done since late July — but hit pause on the ruling while the feds scrambled to appeal.

The Trump administration insisted Habba’s appointment was legal under a federal law that lets a first assistant slide into the US attorney’s chair temporarily.

Habba, 41, was sworn in as the Garden State’s chief prosecutor on March 28 for a 120-day stint. But on July 22, a panel of federal judges refused to extend her run and bumped First Assistant US Attorney Desiree Grace into the top spot instead.

Alina Habba attending the 48th Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 7, 2025. Getty Images

That didn’t sit well with the Justice Department; Attorney General Pam Bondi promptly axed Grace and put Habba back into place.

But the appeals court pushed back, ruling that Bondi never legally made Habba first assistant before firing Grace — nullifying the government’s argument allowing her return as acting US attorney.

“It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place,” senior US Circuit Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote in the 32-page ruling published Dec. 1. 

Habba was sworn in as interim US attorney for the District of New Jersey on March 28, 2025. AP

Habba participating in the arrest of an alleged gang member by US Marshalls at the Pennington Court housing project in Newark on April 2, 2025. Stefan Jeremiah for NY Post

“Its efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for US Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, to the role of Acting US Attorney demonstrate the difficulties it has faced — yet the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the US Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability.”

They further said the law barred Habba from serving in the role once Trump nominated her for Senate confirmation on June 30 — even though he later yanked the nomination so Bondi could reinstall her.

“The government’s argument basically defeats itself,” Judge Fisher wrote, noting their logic would allow even rejected nominees to waltz back in as acting officials.