CHALLENGING UNLAWFUL EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS

THE IMPACT

The Senate’s role in confirming presidential nominees is essential to maintaining accountability, preserving our system of checks and balances, and preventing executive overreach. The Court’s ruling that Alina Habba was serving without lawful authority — as we argued in our brief – sets a critical precedent to stop the administration from making other illegal appointments.

THE BRIEF

The President’s nominees for U.S. Attorney must be confirmed by the Senate before they can serve on a permanent basis. The Trump administration violated the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007 when it reappointed Alina Habba as acting United States Attorney for New Jersey after her initial term expired without Senate confirmation.

On behalf of a bipartisan group of current and former members of Congress who considered and voted on the Act in 2007, we asked the federal court in New Jersey to resolve the issues with this unlawful appointment.

“The administration’s efforts to retain Alina Habba as United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey without the advice and consent of the Senate violate the letter and the spirit of the Appointments Clause, and the statutes that codify the Congressional authority described therein,” we argue in the brief.

On August 21, 2025, the court ruled that Alina Habba had been serving as New Jersey’s United States Attorney without legal authority, as we argued. The administration appealed that ruling, and we filed a second amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on behalf of the same members of Congress.

THE TEAM

The current and former members of Congress are represented pro bono by Free + Fair and Mark A. Berman.

THE CONGRESS MEMBERS

• Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Texas’s 10^th Congressional District, 1995-2005; Texas’s 25^th Congressional District, 2005-13; Texas’s 35^th Congressional District, 2012-23; and Texas’s 37^th Congressional District 2023 – Present.
• Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, Maryland’s 1^st Congressional District, 1991-2009.
• Rep. Stephen Lynch, Massachusetts’s 9^th Congressional District, 2001-13; and Massachusetts’s 8^th Congressional District, 2013 – Present.
• Rep. Frank Pallone, New Jersey’s 3^rd Congressional District, 1988-93; and New Jersey’s 6^th Congressional District, 1993 – Present.
• Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi’s 2^nd Congressional District, 1993 – Present.
• Rep. Nydia Velázquez, New York’s 12^th Congressional District, 1993 – 2013; and New York’s 7^th Congressional District, 2013 – Present.