Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba publicly criticized Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Thom Tillis for blocking a committee vote on her nomination, accusing them of undermining President Donald Trump’s authority to select his own law-enforcement team. In an appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” on 24 Aug., Habba said the two lawmakers were “becoming part of the issue” by keeping in place the Senate’s blue-slip custom, which lets home-state senators veto hearings on nominees. Grassley, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has honored requests from New Jersey Democrats Cory Booker and Andy Kim to withhold blue slips, preventing the panel from scheduling a confirmation hearing. Tillis has said he would oppose any effort by Grassley to move a U.S. attorney nomination without that courtesy, giving Democrats enough votes to stall the pick even if the chairman changed course. Habba has held the post in an acting capacity since earlier this year, but her authority was recently questioned in federal court after a group of judges declined to extend her interim term. The dispute has intensified partisan wrangling over Justice Department appointments as Trump seeks to install officials aligned with his agenda. Neither Grassley nor Tillis has commented publicly on Habba’s latest remarks.