A federal judge in Virginia ordered on Tuesday the lawyer appointed to serve as an interim U.S. attorney in the state to explain why she continues to appear to hold the position despite court findings that she lacked the authority to sit in the role.
U.S. District Judge David Novak of Richmond gave Lindsey Halligan seven days to respond in writing why she continues the “identification of herself as the United States Attorney” after Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie found in November 2025 that her appointment was “defective.”
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Halligan “shall further explain why her identification does not constitute a false or misleading statement,” Novak wrote in a three-page order.
The Justice Department has appealed the case, pushing back against Currie’s determination that Halligan was never properly installed as the district’s top federal prosecutor.
Currie’s ruling did not expressly order Halligan to be removed from office. But Novak noted in his order that “no stay has been issued” yet regarding the appeals case.
“Consequently, it remains the binding precedent in this district and is not subject to being ignored,” Novak said.
Halligan attracted notice after bringing charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James last year.
Currie threw out both indictments in a decision declaring Halligan had no authority to bring them.
The ruling responded to arguments from Comey and James that the Trump administration unlawfully bypassed the traditional Senate confirmation process to install Halligan as interim prosecutor in September.
The debate sparked when Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Halligan to replace Erik Siebert.
Federal law empowers the attorney general to appoint interim U.S. attorneys to fill vacancies when there is no Senate-confirmed official filling those roles. However, it limits those temporary appointments to 120 days.
Critics argued that Bondi used up her allotted 120-day interim appointment on Siebert before he resigned in September, making her move to promote Halligan unlawful.
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Bondi’s team has contended that the 120-day term limit does not bar her from making repeated interim appointments.
“There is no question that the Attorney General intended to vest Ms. Halligan with the powers of U.S. Attorney and thus with the powers of a government attorney authorized to conduct criminal litigation — a fact that the Attorney General has confirmed by ratifying Ms. Halligan’s appointment under her other authorities,” the DOJ wrote in court filings in November.