July 23 (UPI) — Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired newly appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Desiree Leigh Grace, as the Trump administration continues to attack the independence of the U.S. judiciary system.
Bondi announced that Grace had been fired hours after a panel of New Jersey judges voted to appoint her as the state’s district attorney over President Donald Trump’s pick for the position, Alina Habba.
Habba, a former personal attorney to the president, was appointed acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey by Trump in March. Grace had been serving as her first assistant.
Habba “has been doing a great job in making NJ safe again. Nonetheless, politically minded judges refused to allow her to continue in her position, replacing Alina with the First Assistant. Accordingly, the First Assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey has been removed,” Bondi said in a statement Tuesday.
“This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the President’s core Article II powers.”
The Trump administration has come under staunch criticism from the legal profession over its actions that threaten the judiciary and its independence.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has threatened to impeach judges who rule against him, sanctioned law firms and lawyers linked to his political adversaries and has ignored or defied rulings he disagrees with.
The firing of Grace, a career public servant who was lawfully appointed by the court, “is another blatant attempt to intimidate anyone that doesn’t agree with them and undermine judicial independence,” Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, both New Jersey Democrats, said in a joint statement.
“This administration may not like the law, but they are not above it.”
They added that the firing is another example of Trump’s Justice Department “again criticizing a court that acted within its authority, continuing a pattern of publicly undermining judicial decisions and showing disregard for the rule of law and the separation of powers.”
Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general, said earlier on X that Habba’s term expires at midnight Friday and that the judges’ “rush” to appoint Grace “reveals what this was always about: a left-wing agenda, not the rule of law.”
The order appointing Grace U.S. attorney general of New Jersey was signed by District Judge Renee Marie Bumb, a President George W. Bush appointee.
“When judges act like activists, they undermine confidence in our justice system,” Blanche said on X. “Alina is President Trump’s choice to lead — and no partisan bench can override that.”