Federal judge rules Trump administration’s New Jersey U.S. attorney leadership structure is unlawful

Decision warns pending cases could be dismissed if three-person leadership remains in place

The Trump administration’s decision to install a three-headed leadership team at the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office breaks federal law and could lead to the dismissal of an untold number of pending cases, a federal judge ruled on Monday, March 9.

In his decision, Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania wrote the administration “unlawfully delegated” the powers of the U.S. attorney to the triumvirate in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“I conclude that the current leadership structure … exceeds the Attorney General’s statutory authority to appoint inferior officers and delegate them powers and therefore constitutes a unilateral appointment in violation of the Appointments Clause,” Brann wrote.

“This finding requires disqualification of the Attorney General’s appointees,” he continued. “Furthermore, the Government is warned that any further attempts to unlawfully fill the office will result in dismissals of pending cases … If the Government chooses to leave the triumvirate in place, it does so at its own risk.”

Brann’s bombshell decision again upends the office’s already fragile hierarchy, which was cast into chaos in December after Brann similarly disqualified interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba from running prosecutions because, he said, the Trump administration had illegally installed her.

The feds appealed, but a three-judge panel from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the administration had indeed violated the complicated set of rules governing federal appointments.

The triumvirate, a peculiar arrangement designed by Attorney General Pam Bondi after Habba’s resignation, put senior counsel Philip Lamparello, special attorney Jordan Fox, and Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Fontecchio in charge of the office’s various divisions.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.