The Ninth Circuit has blocked Sigal Chattah from running the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada, finding the Justice Department’s workarounds after her interim term expired were invalid. The court said DOJ could not rely on a late designation and delegation to keep her in charge, and the decision removes her from supervising several criminal prosecutions. This ruling follows a lower-court order and adds to a string of disputes over temporary U.S. attorney appointments. The case highlights a tug-of-war between the executive branch’s staffing choices and strict readings of federal vacancy law.
The facts are straightforward: Chattah took over as interim U.S. attorney on April 1, 2025, for a 120-day term, then stepped down just before that term ended. As the deadline approached, Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped her as first assistant and also named her a special attorney, moves DOJ said would let her keep serving while a permanent nominee awaited confirmation. Federal public defenders in Nevada challenged that maneuver, arguing the post-vacancy shuffle was a legal dodge and that prosecutions overseen under that authority should be invalidated. A district judge agreed with the defenders, and the government appealed.
On Monday a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit unanimously affirmed the lower-court ruling, concluding the Federal Vacancies Reform Act does not permit a first assistant who was not already in that role when the vacancy arose to automatically become acting U.S. attorney. The court rejected DOJ’s alternate theory that the attorney general could simply delegate the U.S. attorney’s powers to Chattah. The practical result is that Chattah is disqualified from supervising at least three criminal cases she had been overseeing.
“Nor can the Attorney General create a de facto Acting U.S. Attorney by delegating all of the functions and duties of the U.S. Attorney to someone else,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Eric Miller, framing the panel’s legal rationale in stark terms. The quote captures the court’s view that administrative shuffling cannot override the statute’s text. The panel included Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr., sitting by designation, and Judge Sidney Thomas, and the decision was unsigned beyond their unanimous legal conclusion. That unanimity gives the ruling weight even as it tightens the rules for interim appointments.
This is not an abstract fight. The outcome has immediate effects on ongoing prosecutions and broad implications for how the Justice Department staffs U.S. attorney’s offices when the Senate drags its feet. From a Republican perspective, the ruling underlines the friction that appears when the executive tries to keep offices functional while the confirmation process stalls. It also points a finger at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s “blue slip” practice, which can let home-state senators effectively block nominees and force temporary fixes that now face judicial scrutiny.
The Justice Department had argued both that Chattah’s first-assistant designation automatically authorized her to serve under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and that the attorney general could delegate duties to her. The appeals court rejected both positions, insisting on a literal reading of the vacancy statute and limiting the attorney general’s ability to reassign powers to skirt confirmation. That legal tightening makes it harder for administrations to rely on rapid internal fixes when the Senate and White House are at odds over nominees.
Politically, the ruling represents a setback for an administration that has used interim fills to keep U.S. attorney posts occupied without Senate confirmation. The decision comes amid other rulings, including a Third Circuit move last December that disqualified Alina Habba from acting supervision in New Jersey on similar grounds. Those losses suggest courts are prepared to police the boundary between temporary appointments and confirmed leadership more strictly than some in the executive branch prefer.
President Trump did not nominate Chattah for the permanent Nevada post, instead putting forward George Kelesis in February 2026. The gap between temporary placements and confirmed leadership remains a live issue in Washington, with practical consequences for prosecutions and for the balance of power between the branches. Expect more litigation as administrations continue to juggle staffing needs against a confirmation process that can be slow and politically charged.
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