A federal appeals court on Monday ruled Sigal Chattah is not validly serving as the lead federal prosecutor in Nevada, dealing President Donald Trump's administration a setback in its efforts to bypass the usual processes to appoint new leaders for U.S. Attorney's Offices nationwide.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judge's decision to disqualify Chattah from supervising the prosecutions in three criminal cases after finding her appointment unlawfully bypassed the standard requirement that a U.S. Attorney receive Senate approval.
Chattah, who served as Nevada's chairwoman for the Republican National Committee prior to joining the U.S. Department of Justice, was appointed in late March 2025 to serve a 120-day stint as interim U.S. attorney.
When her tenure was about to expire around July 26, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi extended her appointment under a different federal law and made her acting U.S. Attorney, effectively preempting judges in her district from appointing an interim U.S. Attorney pending Senate confirmation of a new top prosecutor.
Bondi designated Chattah as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada, the No. 2 for the office. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, the person in that position would serve as acting U.S. Attorney.
Federal public defenders in Nevada brought the legal challenge to Chattah's authority in several separate criminal cases. They argued she should be disqualified because her appointment was unlawful and asked for the cases to be dismissed.
U.S. District Judge David Campbell agreed in September, prompting the Trump administration to appeal.
The 9th Circuit panel on Monday concluded that a first assistant U.S. attorney can only serve as head of the office under the federal vacancies law if that person held the position at the time the vacancy arose.
"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," U.S. Circuit Judge Eric Miller, a Trump appointee, wrote for the panel.
The other two judges were appointed by Trump and Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Chattah's office declined to comment, and a lawyer who argued for the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The office's website continued after the ruling to list Chattah as First Assistant U.S. Attorney as it has for months prior.
The ruling marked the latest court setback for the administration's efforts to install top prosecutors allied with Trump without going through the Senate, where the so-called "blue slip" policy gives Democratic senators an effective veto over picks in their home states they do not favor.
In December, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Alina Habba, a former personal lawyer to Trump, was unlawfully appointed as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey and similarly disqualified her from supervising cases.
The case is United States v. Jackson, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 25-6465.
For the United States: Tyler Lee of the U.S. Department of Justice
For the defendants: Jeremy Baron of the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Nevada
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