A Federal Appeals Panel Says The Trump Administration Broke The Rules Trying To Keep Its Pick In Place.
Imagine hiring a substitute teacher for a few months. The rules say the job ends after 120 days. But instead of following the rules, the school just changes her title and lets her keep teaching anyway.
That is basically what a federal appeals court says happened with Nevada's top federal prosecutor.
On Monday, a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Sigal Chattah has been unlawfully leading the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada.
The panel upheld a lower court decision. That decision found the Trump administration broke federal law trying to keep her in the job past her legal deadline.
How We Got Here
Chattah is a longtime Las Vegas attorney and former Republican National Committeewoman. President Trump appointed her interim U.S. Attorney for Nevada in April 2025.
That kind of appointment comes with a built-in time limit. It lasts 120 days.
The day before her term ran out in July 2025, the Justice Department tried something different.
Attorney General Pam Bondi named Chattah “first assistant” to the office, then used that title to make her “acting” U.S. Attorney.
That move let her keep running the office without ever facing a Senate confirmation vote.
Nevada's federal public defenders sued, arguing the shuffle was illegal. In September, Senior U.S. District Judge David Campbell agreed, ruling the appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
He disqualified Chattah from supervising several criminal cases. She was allowed to keep working while the ruling was appealed.
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Now that appeal is over. The Ninth Circuit sided with Campbell.
The judges wrote plainly in their opinion, “We hold that the Attorney General cannot do so,” the panel wrote, rejecting the government's argument that shifting titles could get around Senate confirmation requirements.
Why This Matters To Conservatives
This case is not really about whether Chattah is a good prosecutor. It is about whether the executive branch has to follow the rules Congress wrote.
Conservatives who care about limited government have long argued that no branch of government should get to make up its own rules as it goes. The Senate confirmation process exists for a reason. It forces the president to get buy-in from elected lawmakers before handing someone permanent power over federal prosecutions in a state.
During oral arguments earlier this year, Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, a first-term Trump appointee himself, questioned the administration's logic directly.
“Essentially there would be an easy workaround to, if we interpret the statutes as you're suggesting, to allow the attorney general to have one person in almost the entire time even if there's no ultimate confirmation of anyone,” Blumenfeld said.
That is exactly the kind of concern that should worry anyone who wants government power kept in check, no matter which party holds the White House.
What Critics Are Saying
Nevada's Democratic senators, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, have opposed Chattah's appointment from the start and cheered the ruling.
“Sigal Chattah has always been unfit to serve as Nevada's U.S. Attorney, and I'm glad to see the Ninth Circuit agree her appointment is illegal,” Rosen wrote in a post on X.
The Trump administration has faced the same problem elsewhere. A similar case in New Jersey ended with former Trump lawyer Alina Habba stepping down as acting U.S. Attorney in December after the Third Circuit ruled her appointment illegal too.
A federal judge in California reached a similar conclusion about prosecutor Bill Essayli. This is not a one-state problem. It is a pattern.
What Happens Next
President Trump has nominated Las Vegas defense attorney George Kelesis for the permanent, Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney post. That nomination still has to move through the Senate, where Nevada's two Democratic senators have already signaled resistance.
The Justice Department could also appeal this latest ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nevadans who care about following the Constitution should keep an eye on the Kelesis nomination.
Contacting Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen to ask for a timely, fair confirmation hearing is a reasonable next step.
Whatever happens with this case, the bigger lesson stands. Rules matter, even when they are inconvenient for the people in charge.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
