by
Julia
Demaree
Nikhinson
–
Pool/Getty
Images)
In
one
of
the
more
stupid
episodes
in
an
already
stupid
run
of
them,
Pam
Bondi
gushed
to
social
media
that
the
Trump
administration
would
stand
up
to
“politically
minded”
judges
and
fire
Desiree
Leigh
Grace,
the
First
Assistant
U.S.
Attorney
for
the
District
of
New
Jersey.
Bondi
made
the
move
after
the
local
district
judges
formally
appointed
Grace
to
the
role
of
U.S.
Attorney
effective
this
weekend.
The
only
problem:
Firing
Grace
has
no
impact
on
that
decision.
Oh,
well,
and
the
other
problem
is
Bondi
couldn’t
fire
Grace
from
the
latter
job
if
she
wanted
to.
And
the
other,
other
problem
is
that
none
of
this
has
anything
to
do
with
the
judges
anyway.
Confused?
Bondi
sure
is.
But
that’s
par
for
the
course
with
this
Justice
Department
that
keeps
trying
to
solve
constitutional
Rubik’s
Cubes
by
eating
them.
Maybe
they’re
just
too
busy
trying
to
cover
up
the
Epstein
client
list
to
read
the
applicable
statutes.
This
all
started
last
week,
when
cable
news
talking
head
Alina
Habba,
currently
cosplaying
as
the
interim
U.S.
Attorney
for
New
Jersey,
informed
her
staff
that
she
suspected
her
tenure
would
soon
end.
Having
been
temporarily
named
to
the
job,
Habba’s
appointment
would
come
to
an
end
this
week
and
her
nomination
for
the
permanent
gig
had
stalled
in
the
Senate
because
even
that
Republican-controlled
body
balked
at
the
idea
of
putting
a
parking
garage
lawyer
in
charge
of
that
office.
When
this
happens,
the
law
requires
the
district
judges
to
pick
the
U.S.
Attorney.
Hoping
to
perform
an
end
run
around
the
Senate,
the
administration
wanted
the
judges
to
appoint
Habba.
As
Mark
Joseph
Stern
notes
in
Slate,
the
administration
has
already
relied
on
cooperative
courts
to
assent
to
their
picks
on
11
occasions
so
far.
The
judges
here…
declined.
Girl,
don’t
blame
Article
III
for
Article
I
and
Article
II
misbehaving.
The
judges
are
only
in
this
position
—
exercising
their
statutory
authority
under
28
U.S.C.
§
546(d)
—
because
the
administration
dug
deep
and
picked
a
nominee
that
could
pass
the
lowest
Senatorial
bar
imaginable.
Under
that
law,
the
Attorney
General
can
appoint
an
interim
U.S.
Attorney
for
120
days,
which
Bondi
did
in
choosing
Habba.
If
the
administration
fails
to
secure
a
permanent
appointment
confirmed
by
the
Senate
by
the
end
of
that
run,
“the
district
court
for
such
district
may
appoint
a
United
States
attorney
to
serve
until
the
vacancy
is
filled.”
But
either
way,
firing
Grace
from
her
job
as
First
Assistant
does
not
have
anything
to
do
with
her
new
job
as
U.S.
Attorney.
Bondi
seems
to
labor
under
the
illusion
that
the
judges
were
“promoting”
Grace
as
opposed
to
independently
picking
a
lawyer
who
happened
to
currently
be
the
assistant.
In
other
words,
Bondi
thinks
firing
Grace
disrupts
the
line
of
succession
when
there’s
no
line
of
succession
in
play.
It
doesn’t
matter
if
Grace
was
the
assistant
regional
manager
or
the
assistant
to
the
regional
manager
—
corporate
hired
her
to
be
the
manager
manager.
That
would
be
George
W.
Bush
appointee
Judge
Bumb.
Note
that
the
order
doesn’t
even
mention
Grace’s
current
(or
former)
job.
Indeed,
the
judges
were
reportedly
deliberating
between
placing
Grace
in
the
job
or
a
former
judge
—
which
is
to
say
nothing
about
this
decision
turned
on
the
person
being
a
current
DOJ
employee,
much
less
the
current
First
Assistant.
Bondi
basically
gave
Grace
the
rest
of
the
week
off
to
prepare
for
her
new
job.
Trump
—
and
only
Trump,
not
Bondi
—
could
fire
Grace
from
the
U.S.
Attorney
job
once
she
takes
that,
though
he
would
still
need
to
find
a
new
person
for
the
job
before
the
judges
find
themselves
having
to
pick
again.
Choosing
Habba
for
another
go
around
is
not
supposed
to
be
an
option,
but
if
the
administration
wasn’t
committed
to
dying
on
the
Habba
hill,
they
would’ve
already
given
up.
At
a
certain
point,
doesn’t
it
hurt
the
case
for
an
imperial
executive
branch
when
the
executive
constantly
presents
as
the
dumbest
lawyers
on
Earth?
Obviously
a
rhetorical
question.
Earlier:
Alina
Habba
To
Let
The
Screen
Door
Hit
Her
On
Her
Way
Out
Of
U.S.
Attorney
Job
(OR
MAYBE
NOT!)
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Patrice is
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A
Lawyer.
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