NJ Prosecutor Fired to Make Way for Alina Habba Files Appeal

The former deputy for New Jersey’s US attorney claims she was fired in “direct retaliation” for judges appointing her as the state’s top federal prosecutor.

Desiree Grace said her July 22 termination was “completely unjustified,” according to her appeal filed to the US Merit Systems Protection Board, the body which mediates challenges from federal workers over adverse employment decisions.

The appeal, which Bloomberg Law obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request, comes as a federal judge in Pennsylvania weighs whether President Donald Trump lawfully appointed Alina Habba, his former personal attorney, to the acting US attorney role.

The case carries broader implications. At least two criminal defendants have argued that Trump overstepped a court’s authority and that prosecutors can no longer pursue cases at Habba’s direction. Federal judges in New Jersey have paused proceedings in other cases to allow the dispute to play out.

Grace’s firing came as Habba’s initial interim US attorney appointment neared its 120-day term limit, triggering a deeper rift between the Trump administration and the judiciary.

Trump had picked Habba to be the permanent US attorney for New Jersey, but she failed to advance under a Senate custom requiring the approval of home-state senators. Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, both Democrats, have called Habba unfit to serve.

Judges in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, using their authority under federal law, then on July 22 appointed Grace to replace Habba until a Trump-appointed official was confirmed.

But Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X hours later that she fired Grace, assailing what she called the “politically minded judges” who appointed her.

The administration then used a series of procedural maneuvers, including pulling Habba’s nomination before the Senate, to keep her in charge and give her the title of acting US attorney.

Veteran Prosecutor

Grace is a veteran of the the New Jersey US attorney’s office, having served there since 2016 and ascending to the criminal division chief post last year. Habba tapped Grace as her top deputy in April shortly after assuming the interim US attorney role.

In her appeal to MSPB, Grace said she’s “received outstanding reviews, and I have been promoted numerous times on merit.”

It also noted that she was an assistant US attorney at the time of her removal, a position that comes with certain civil service protections, unlike a political appointee. That could be an important detail, showing the administration fired Grace before she became a court-appointed US attorney.

The MSPB has the power to order agencies to reverse improper actions, but Trump’s firing of a Democratic member of the board earlier this year has left the agency without the necessary quorum to fully adjudicate cases.

Criminal defendants are invoking the dispute over the appointment in their cases.

Julien Giraud Jr. and Julien Giraud III, who are facing drug and weapons-related charges in New Jersey, argued in a legal filing that Grace’s appointment by New Jersey judges was “legally controlling” and that her firing represented “unlawful executive interference.”

Failing to block prosecutions from advancing under Habba’s supervision would “signal that constitutional appointment limits are optional—and easily circumvented through executive sleight of hand,” they said.

Matthew Brann, the chief judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, is considering the claims after the dispute was moved out of New Jersey.

The chief judge of the Third Circuit, which includes New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said it would be in the public interest for the dispute to be transferred. Brann scheduled oral arguments for Aug. 15 in the case.

The Justice Department has argued that it followed the law in re-installing Habba and firing Grace. And regardless of whether Habba’s appointment is legal, prosecutors in her office can still move forward with cases, the department said in recent court filings.

“Numerous courts, including the Third Circuit, have recognized that a federal prosecutor’s authority does not depend on the validity of a superior officer’s appointment,” the DOJ said.