It’s a tale as old as time … or at least as old as this past summer. Lawyer meets U.S. Attorney position; lawyer falls in love with U.S. Attorney position; Congress does not fall in love with lawyer; Congress does not bless union between lawyer and U.S. Attorney position; lawyer turns to leader for assistance; leader circumvents Congress to bring the lawyer and the U.S. Attorney position together; and everyone lives happily ever after.
Wait, that’s wrong. The whole thing instead becomes a legal nightmare affecting indictments and criminal prosecutions.
On September 30, 2025, U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell ruled that Sigal Chattah, the acting U.S. Attorney for Nevada, could not be involved in any criminal prosecutions in the state, and that doing so would be unlawful. The Trump-appointed Chattah failed to receive confirmation from Congress, as required by the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Judge Campbell’s ruling clashed with a workaround by the Trump administration to keep Chattah as the Nevada U.S. Attorney.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because the same bit of legal smoke-and-mirrors took place in New Jersey in August, with similar results. Alina Habba, also denied confirmation by Congress, was given a title that attempted to exploit a perceived loophole. It was also swatted down by a judge, who stayed an injunction pending an appeal by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Judge Campbell offered no such delay, with the federal judge’s ban going into effect immediately. The White House has vowed that the matter is not yet over.
There’s a Process
As part of the system of checks and balances created by the Founding Fathers, the Appointments Clause allows Congress to keep the president from stocking key government positions in the executive branch with unqualified sycophants and cronies. Federal code requires that all U.S. Attorney appointments by the president must receive confirmation by Congress.
This balance of power is further reinforced by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA), which establishes a clear line of succession to fill a high-level opening in an executive agency. Without the FVRA, a president could exploit the system to place whomever they wanted in the position and sidestep the unlikely but required Senate confirmation by giving them a classification of “acting.” For example, Acting U.S. Attorney for Nevada.
Chattah, who had previously run for the office of Nevada Attorney General, is a vocal supporter of President Trump and had vowed to use her new position as the state’s top federal prosecutor to re-examine election cases for alleged fraud. She also served as an attorney for the Nevada Republican Party.
Chattah should have been replaced by her first assistant after Chattah’s 120-day time limit as interim U.S. Attorney expired without her receiving Senate confirmation. Instead, Chattah was named as the Acting U.S. Attorney, which can be done to fill a role that’s vacant. This would give Chattah another 210 days in the position and the potential of being perpetually renewed without ever getting Senate approval. However, above and beyond the Constitutional issues, the same complication that had presented itself in New Jersey also appeared in Nevada: clever defense attorneys and public defenders.
A Get Out of Jail Free Card?
As was the case in New Jersey with fellow Trump appointee and Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, multiple defense attorneys made motions for dismissal of criminal cases on behalf of their clients. Their argument stated that since Chattah was not legitimately holding her position as the top federal prosecutor in Nevada, the cases she was involved with were being tried unlawfully. They called for the voiding of any cases in which she wrote indictments or provided prosecutorial supervision.
Judge Campbell chose not to grant any dismissals, but he agreed that Chattah lacked the legal authority required for her position, thereby disqualifying her from participating in any criminal cases in the District of Nevada. Other government attorneys in Nevada have seven days to confirm that Chattah is no longer involved in any of the specified four cases. Whether Chattah will remain in her position is yet unknown, and it’s likely to be a race between her and Habba to see whose case reaches the Supreme Court first.
Related Resources
- What Is the Unitary Executive Theory? (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
- Concern From Many Judges as Rhetoric Escalates and Threats Keep Increasing (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- How Can Lawyers Help With Government Agencies and Programs? (FindLaw’s Choosing the Right Lawyer)
