After a move that arguably watered down the U.S. Senate's advice and consent role and rendered toothless a statute authorizing a federal court to appoint a top prosecutor, the DOJ on Tuesday boldly defended Alina Habba by asserting that she was essentially the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey the moment she resigned from the same position — and even if one mechanism to make that happen was legally invalid, it doesn't matter.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann previously called out the DOJ for putting the "cart before the horse" by submitting arguments that Habba was lawfully appointed, when he had instead ordered briefing from the government and criminal defendants Julien Giraud Jr. and Julien Giraud III under the assumption that she was unlawfully reappointed.

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