Attorney General Pam Bondi this week delivered a strong message to the judiciary and holdover officials inside the Department of Justice: the days of bureaucratic sabotage are over. In a stunning rebuke of judicial interference, Bondi fired Desiree Leigh Grace — the U.S. attorney handpicked by Democrat-appointed judges in New Jersey to replace Alina Habba — as part of a broader effort to protect President Donald J. Trump’s constitutional authority and the will of the American people.

The attempted ouster of Habba, whose 120-day appointment as Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey was set to expire Friday, was seen by many as a calculated strike against a loyal Trump appointee. The judges, most of whom were nominated under Democratic administrations, had bypassed the executive branch by holding a rare internal vote to elevate Grace, Habba’s assistant, to the top spot — a move widely interpreted as a challenge to the President’s Article II powers.

Bondi wasted no time responding.

“[Habba] has been doing a great job in making NJ safe again,” Bondi wrote on Tuesday. “Nonetheless, politically minded judges refused to allow her to continue in her position, replacing Alina with the First Assistant. Accordingly, the First Assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey has just been removed.”

In an even sharper rebuke, she added, “This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the President’s core Article II powers.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went further, accusing the judges of “colluding with the NJ Senators along the way,” referring to far-left Democrats Cory Booker and Andy Kim, who have been actively stonewalling Habba’s permanent nomination through the Senate’s informal “blue slip” tradition. “It won’t work,” Blanche declared. “Pursuant to the President’s authority, we have removed that deputy, effective immediately. This backroom vote will not override the authority of the Chief Executive.”

President Trump also acted decisively. Just one day before Habba’s appointment was set to expire, he withdrew her nomination for the permanent role — effectively nullifying the judges’ replacement scheme — and used a succession strategy to reinstall her as Acting U.S. Attorney by appointing her first assistant. That action resets the appointment timeline and places Habba back in charge for another 210 days, according to The Hill.

Bondi’s actions in New Jersey mirror a broader house-cleaning effort across the DOJ, targeting embedded officials who have worked to undermine Trump’s presidency and weaponize the justice system against his allies.

Just last week, Bondi fired Southern District of New York prosecutor Maurene Comey, daughter of disgraced former FBI Director James Comey. Comey had prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, but also reportedly played a behind-the-scenes role in cases involving Trump-world targets.

According to Politico, the reason for Comey’s firing wasn’t immediately disclosed, but her ties to the anti-Trump deep state have long been a concern among conservatives.

Bondi has also moved aggressively against officials involved in the political prosecutions stemming from the January 6 Capitol protests. In June, she dismissed at least three prosecutors involved in those cases, including two supervisory attorneys and a trial lawyer, all of whom were embedded in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.

Fox13 and the Associated Press confirmed the firings, citing internal DOJ sources. Termination letters, signed by Bondi, reportedly invoked Article II authority without providing additional justification — a clear sign that loyalty and constitutionality now outweigh bureaucratic tenure.

The purge began shortly after President Trump’s second inauguration in January. Then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove fired more than two dozen Biden-era hires tied to January 6 prosecutions. Many had originally been brought in for temporary roles but were quietly given permanent appointments in the final months of the previous administration — what Bove condemned as “subversive personnel actions.”

In February, interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin followed up by reassigning key members of the department’s “Capitol Siege Section,” including lawyers who had pursued controversial seditious conspiracy charges against Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio.

The common thread in all of these moves is unmistakable: the Trump administration is methodically reasserting control over a Justice Department long plagued by partisan operatives, activist prosecutors, and judges acting far outside their constitutional role. Bondi’s decisive action in New Jersey is not just about defending Habba — it’s about reestablishing lawful order and ensuring the President’s agenda cannot be vetoed by unelected bench elites or radical prosecutors with political agendas.