The Justice Department on Thursday cleared the way for Alina Habba to remain in her role as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey.
Ms. Habba’s tenure as interim U.S. attorney was set to expire on Friday. But she announced on social media on Thursday that she would be New Jersey’s acting U.S. attorney.
The decision will allow Ms. Habba to lead the New Jersey office for at least the next 210 days.
President Trump had previously nominated Ms. Habba to be U.S. attorney in a permanent capacity, which under the law would have precluded her from serving as acting U.S. attorney. But a spokesman for the Justice Department said Thursday that the White House had withdrawn her nomination, allowing her to serve as acting U.S. attorney.
The sudden announcement for now ends a standoff between officials in Washington and district judges in New Jersey who had appointed their own choice for U.S. attorney, an experienced prosecutor named Desiree Leigh Grace. Shortly after Ms. Grace was named by the judges this week, Justice Department officials announced that she had been fired.
Ms. Habba seemed to reference that sequence of events in her social media post announcing that she would remain in the job.
“I don’t cower to pressure,” she wrote. “I don’t answer to politics. This is a fight for justice. And I’m all in.”
Ms. Habba, President Trump’s former lawyer, was first named to a 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney in late March. Since then, her tenure has been defined by a series of high-profile investigations of Democrats and her stated desire to use the traditionally nonpartisan role to help “turn New Jersey red.”
About a half-hour after her public post, Ms. Habba emailed prosecutors in the office.
“There has been enough noise the past four months,” she wrote. “Let’s keep our focus and get back to the important work ahead for the District of New Jersey.”
Ms. Habba has not been seen in the office over the past few days and until Thursday afternoon prosecutors had remained uncertain as to who would lead them in the coming weeks.