A panel of federal judges in New Jersey on Tuesday invoked a rarely used statute to block President Donald Trump’s interim choice for the state’s top federal prosecutor. The court declined to extend Alina Habba’s 120-day tenure as U.S. attorney, citing its authority under 28 U.S.C. § 546(d), and instead installed her first assistant, career prosecutor Desiree Grace, to lead the office. Within hours, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Grace had been "removed," saying the Justice Department "does not tolerate rogue judges—especially when they threaten the President’s core Article II powers." Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused the court of pushing a "left-wing agenda," while Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim called Grace’s firing an attack on judicial independence. The Senate has not yet acted on Trump’s formal nomination of Habba, leaving the leadership of the office in limbo as her interim term is set to expire by week’s end. The confrontation mirrors events in the Northern District of New York, where judges last week refused to keep interim U.S. attorney John Sarcone in place when his 120-day term lapsed. The twin rebukes underscore escalating tensions between the Trump administration and the federal judiciary over control of U.S. attorney appointments.