Judges for the U.S. District Court of New Jersey named a new interim U.S. attorney on March 23, following a protracted legal battle over Alina Habba’s role as top prosecutor in the district.
Habba congratulated her successor in a post on X.
“New Jersey deserves a great chief federal law enforcement official who is in line with President Trump’s agenda of making this country safe and [New Jersey] great,” Habba wrote. “I know Rob well and he will be a great champion of this state and mission of the [Justice Department].”
Frazer has served in the New Jersey office “with distinction” for more than two decades, the court said in its March 23 filing.
Frazer’s appointment came after consultations between the U.S. District Court of New Jersey and Department of Justice (DOJ) senior officials, according to the filing.
To clear up authority issues, the DOJ is willing to seek superseding indictments under Frazer’s authority on cases previously indicted under Habba, the court documents said.
New Jersey’s U.S. attorney’s office has been without an official leader for much of the past year.
Habba served as interim U.S. attorney for the New Jersey office last year, from March 28 to July 26, the 120-day maximum allowed under the law. The state’s district court had the authority to allow her to continue in that role but declined to do so.
She was then hired by the DOJ for a different role before being named as the first assistant U.S. attorney in the District of New Jersey office.
According to federal law, when an officer of the United States position is vacant, the “first assistant” for the office becomes the acting leader. Because there was no permanent appointee for the New Jersey office, Habba automatically became the acting U.S. attorney, as the Federal Vacancies Reform Act states.
This argument was rejected by both the district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. On Jan. 26, a three-judge panel for the federal appeals court again declined a petition for the whole court to rehear the case for reinstating Habba.
“Only the first assistant in place at the time of the vacancy automatically assumes acting status under the [Federal Vacancies Reform Act],” the appeals court wrote in its original decision on Dec. 1, 2025.
Three of the 14 active judges had voted in favor of rehearing the case, as DOJ officials have criticized the New Jersey district court for not allowing Habba to continue past the 120-day interim period.
“Politically minded judges refused to allow her to continue in her position,” Bondi said in a July 22 post on X.