Trump lands his former attorneys in top positions as he leans on the judiciary
In the span of less than a week, the Trump administration has won confirmation for one of the president鈥檚 former personal attorneys to a lifetime federal judgeship while reinstalling another as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey 鈥� the latest in an ongoing push to remake the judicial system by putting allies in prominent posts.
On Tuesday night, the U.S. Senate confirmed Emil Bove to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by a one-vote margin, giving the president鈥檚 former lawyer a lifetime appointment to the Philadelphia-based court. GOP senators waved off a trio of whistleblowers鈥� accusations that as acting Deputy Attorney General Mr. Bove had suggested prosecutors should , and about his role in dismissing corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Mr. Bove鈥檚 confirmation came just days after the Trump Justice Department used a highly unusual workaround to reinstate Alina Habba, another former personal attorney of the president鈥檚, as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey 鈥� one of several recent cases of circumventing congressional oversight to put loyalists in key prosecutorial positions.
Why We Wrote This
The judicial branch has consistently put checks on President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term agenda. Now he seems interested in molding the judiciary in the same way he鈥檚 already reshaped the Department of Justice, emphasizing personal loyalty.
With Republicans in control of Congress and largely in lockstep with the president, the federal judiciary has been the only significant source of governmental resistance to Mr. Trump in his second term. While the conservative-dominated Supreme Court has greenlit many of his actions, lower court judges have routinely ruled against him and his Justice Department, triggering fury from the president.
Now, as he escalates his battle with the judicial system, he seems interested in reshaping the judiciary itself in the same way he鈥檚 already reshaped the Justice Department.
Gregg Nunziata, executive director of the Society for the Rule of Law, a group of conservative lawyers who oppose Mr. Trump, says that Mr. Bove, Ms. Habba, and Todd Blanche, a third lawyer who worked for Mr. Trump during his legal travails who got a top Justice Department slot, are 鈥渁ll people distinguished by and known for their personal loyalty to the president, and their partisan rhetoric, not for their commitment to the rule of law.鈥�
The concern, he adds, is that the administration is trying to steer the judiciary 鈥渢owards a more partisan, results-oriented institution.鈥�
With only a handful of judges confirmed so far this term, it may be too early to tell if Mr. Bove is an anomaly or the start of a trend for Trump鈥檚 judicial picks. But the Trump administration鈥檚 combative rhetoric concerning the courts, and its increasing willingness to bypass Congress and judges to keep high-ranking prosecutors in power, suggests an escalation in its power struggle with the judiciary.
The DOJ is all of Maryland鈥檚 district court judges, and on Monday against U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg in Washington for comments he made at a judicial conference, warning that the Trump administration might 鈥渄isregard rulings of federal courts鈥� and trigger 鈥渁 constitutional crisis.鈥�
The moves have outraged Democrats.
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee and whose home state, along with New Jersey and Pennsylvania, is under the jurisdiction of the circuit court Mr. Bove now sits on, says President Trump鈥檚 decision to 鈥渋nstall a series of loyalists who have represented him鈥� is undermining the independence of the legal system.
鈥淭he consequences for the legitimacy, independence, and capabilities of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 offices and federal district courts, I fear, will be grave,鈥� he says.
鈥淎 familiar playbook鈥�
Republicans dismiss those criticisms, with multiple senators comparing the last-minute emergence of whistleblowers opposing Mr. Bove to the drama of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh鈥檚 2018 confirmation hearing.
鈥淭his is a familiar playbook,鈥� says Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee. 鈥淢ysterious whistleblowers seem to appear 鈥� and with less-than-credible allegations.鈥�
Senator Cornyn also waved away concerns about the Trump administration avoiding Senate confirmation for Ms. Habba and other U.S. attorneys, saying it wasn鈥檛 much different than when the Biden administration 鈥渂asically gave the Senate the stiff-arm鈥� with temporary appointments.
Even as Republicans push forward to confirm nearly all of his nominees, President Trump has grown increasingly frustrated at what he perceives as the Senate鈥檚 slow pace.
He has repeatedly demanded that Congress officially go on break this August to allow him to make recess appointments without Senate approval.
And within hours of Mr. Bove鈥檚 confirmation, the president demanding that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley end a longstanding custom known as the 鈥渂lue slip鈥� which gives home-state senators an unofficial power to block judicial confirmations in their own states. (Senate Republicans showed little appetite to meet this particular demand.)
Ms. Habba had been serving as the interim U.S. Attorney for the district of New Jersey, but as the end date on that position approached last week, federal judges in the district selected a career prosecutor to replace her. Hours after the judges did so, however, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she had fired the replacement.
Ms. Bondi then appointed Ms. Habba to the second-ranked position in the district. Because there was no U.S. Attorney in place, Ms. Habba automatically became the district鈥檚 top federal prosecutor again.
Democratic Sen. Andy Kim says his state of New Jersey is 鈥渂earing the brunt鈥� of President Trump鈥檚 attempts to reshape the judicial system.
鈥淧eople in my state are pissed off, really pissed off, that the Trump administration is circumventing the process here,鈥� he says. The president is elevating 鈥減eople [whose] top qualification is just loyalty to him, rather than adherence to the Constitution.鈥�
New Jersey isn鈥檛 the only state where the Trump administration is trying its novel workaround of the聽Senate confirmation聽process.
This week, the Department of Justice made two interim U.S. attorneys in California and Nevada 鈥渁cting鈥� U.S. attorneys as well. The title change, permitted under the of 1998, allows Bill Essayli and Sigal Chattah, respectively, to stay in their roles for up to two and a half years without Senate confirmation or judicial appointment.
And earlier this month, John A. Sarcone III went from the interim head of the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 office for the Northern District of New York to a 鈥渟pecial attorney鈥� position so he could retain his job despite judges preferring otherwise. A panel of judges in the district had made the rare decision to not confirm him to the U.S. Attorney position permanently.
A future Supreme Court pick?
Still, those appointments won鈥檛 outlast the Trump administration. Mr. Bove could be on the court for decades.
A federal prosecutor in New York before he was Mr. Trump鈥檚 personal lawyer, Mr. Bove returned to the Justice Department upon Mr. Trump鈥檚 return to power. He quickly began executing on the president鈥檚 vision for the agency, delivering pardons for Trump supporters, and ending investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol. He fired dozens of career prosecutors who handled Jan. 6 cases, and spearheaded the legal defenses of the Trump administration鈥檚 mass deportation policies. In a Senate , he declined to rule out the possibility of Mr. Trump running for a third term.
Supporters offer enthusiastic praise. Mike Davis, founder and president of the Article III Project, a conservative legal organization, said in a statement that Mr. Bove鈥檚 track record 鈥渢errifies the radical left and rattles the swampy D.C. establishment.鈥�
鈥淓mil Bove isn鈥檛 just another judge. He鈥檚 a constitutionalist with a spine of steel,鈥� he added.
Soon after Mr. Bove was confirmed, Mr. Davis as a possible future Supreme Court pick.
The first whistleblower came forward the day before Mr. Bove鈥檚 confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Erez Reuveni, a career Justice Department prosecutor fired in April, and provided alleging that Mr. Bove had suggested DOJ prosecutors should ignore court orders in a trio of high-profile deportation cases. In a meeting a day before the administration flew hundreds of immigrant detainees to El Salvador, rebuffing a judge鈥檚 order to turn the planes around, Mr. Bove allegedly recommended responding to the courts with an expletive.
Mr. Bove waved off the claims during his confirmation hearing. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any validity to the suggestion that the whistleblower complaint 鈥� calls into question my qualifications to serve as a circuit judge,鈥� he said.
The next day, a second whistleblower came forward to support Mr. Reuveni鈥檚 claims. According to, a legal group representing them, that whistleblower provided 鈥渟ubstantive, internal鈥� agency documents to the DOJ Office of the Inspector General back in May 鈥渢hat corroborates the thrust鈥� of Mr. Reuveni鈥檚 claims.
A third whistleblower spoke out this week, days before the full Senate confirmed Mr. Bove, alleging that the appeals court nominee misled lawmakers about the Justice Department鈥檚 dropping of corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Bove characterized his record in a different way. His close affiliation with Mr. Trump 鈥� and his decision to serve as legal counsel for the president, fighting what Mr. Bove saw as unjust, politically motivated criminal charges 鈥� exemplifies his commitment to impartiality.
鈥淭hat was a decision to fight for what was right and fight for the rule of law,鈥� he during his confirmation hearing. 鈥淚f I am fortunate enough to become a judge, I鈥檒l abide by that standard applying the rule of law every single day.鈥�
