Alina Habba judge is Republican, Federalist Society member [View all]

by Elizabeth Crisp - 08/22/25 4:34 PM ET

The judge appointed by former President Obama who ruled this week that Trump pick Alina Habba lacks the authority to serve as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey is a longtime Republican, with membership in the conservative Federalist Society and the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Habba and Attorney General Pam Bondi both have ripped U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann of taking a “rogue” or “activist” position after he ruled Thursday that Habba was unlawfully serving as the Garden State’s federal prosecutor through a “novel series of legal and personnel moves” ...

Brann was nominated to the court by Obama in 2012 but was backed by Republicans.

Then-Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) recommended Brann in 2012 to Obama for the Pennsylvania-based lifetime district judgeship. Toomey was a fiscally conservative Republican, though he is also one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict President Trump in his second impeachment trial ...

https://thehill.com/homenews/5466268-trump-pick-habba-challenged-judge/