A federal judge has concluded that Alina Habba, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, has been running the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey without legal authority since 1 July. In a 77-page decision issued Thursday, Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann said Habba’s appointment breached both the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the 120-day limit Congress places on interim U.S. attorneys. Habba was installed as interim U.S. attorney on 28 March after Attorney General Pam Bondi removed the office’s previous leader. When her four-month term expired, Bondi and the White House withdrew Habba’s stalled Senate nomination, fired a court-appointed replacement and re-designated Habba as “acting” U.S. attorney through a special-counsel designation. Judge Brann ruled that the manoeuvre failed to satisfy federal vacancies law and that “all actions” Habba has taken since early July “may be declared void.” The opinion grants motions filed by three criminal defendants who argued that indictments approved under Habba were invalid. While Brann declined to dismiss the underlying charges, he disqualified Habba and any prosecutors acting under her direction from the cases. He stayed his ruling to give the Justice Department time to appeal to the Third Circuit, leaving immediate practical effects uncertain for hundreds of ongoing investigations and prosecutions. The decision intensifies a broader clash between the judiciary and the Trump administration over unconfirmed federal prosecutors. Senate Democrats Cory Booker and Andy Kim had opposed Habba’s nomination, effectively blocking confirmation. Thursday’s ruling, if upheld, could limit the executive branch’s ability to retain preferred prosecutors without Senate consent and expose past cases to further challenge.