District Court judges in New Jersey to decide whether Alina Habba remains as state's US attorney

U.S. District Court judges in New Jersey are set to decide on Monday whether Trump-appointed Alina Habba remains as the state's U.S. attorney.

New Jersey's 17 U.S. District Court judges will decide whether to reappoint Habba, choose someone else, or leave the office vacant, Law.com reported. Habba has been the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey since late March and is approaching the end of her 120-day term on Tuesday, according to the New Jersey Globe.

President Trump nominated Habba to the post on July 1. But the Senate Judiciary Committee hasn't done its usual vetting of her for the position since the state's two Democratic senators have indicated they will not sign off on her candidacy.

Instead of choosing Habba, the judges might pick either First Assistant U.S. Attorney Desiree Grace or former U.S. District Court Judge Noel Lawrence Hillman, both registered Republicans, the Globe reported.

The situation is similar to what a judicial review panel in the Northern District of New York last week faced: The district's judges declined to sign off on Attorney General Pam Bondi's pick, John Sarcone III, for U.S. attorney, after he had served 120 days as acting U.S. attorney. The judges had declined to use their discrection to either keep Sarcone on the job or choose another candidate.

Trump didn't submit a nominee for U.S. attorney for the district, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had said he would place a hold on Department of Justice political nominees.

Bondi appointed Sarcone special assistant U.S. attorney, and gave him the role of first deputy assistant U.S. Attorney.

"Because there’s no U.S. attorney in place, I became 'acting' U.S. attorney for an indefinite term," Sarcone told the New York Law Journal, noting that he has "all the powers of the U.S. attorney."