A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Sigal Chattah is not validly serving as the lead federal prosecutor in Nevada. The decision from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's finding that her appointment unlawfully bypassed the standard requirement for Senate approval for U.S. Attorneys.
The legal challenge began after then-Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Chattah, a former Republican National Committee chairwoman for Nevada, as an interim U.S. Attorney in late March 2025. When that 120-day term was nearing its end in July 2025, Bondi designated Chattah as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney, which, under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, allowed her to continue as the acting head of the office.
Federal public defenders challenged Chattah's authority in several criminal cases, arguing the appointment was a maneuver to avoid the Senate confirmation process. In September 2025, U.S. District Judge David Campbell ruled in favor of the defendants and disqualified Chattah from supervising three specific cases, leading the Trump administration to appeal the decision.
The 9th Circuit panel, composed of judges appointed by Presidents Trump and Clinton, determined that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act only allows a first assistant to lead an office if they held that No. 2 position at the time the vacancy first occurred. U.S. Circuit Judge Eric Miller wrote that the Attorney General cannot create a "de facto Acting U.S. Attorney" by delegating all duties to an individual who did not hold the required rank when the vacancy began.
For the legal system, this decision reinforces the "blue slip" policy, a Senate tradition that allows home-state senators to block judicial and prosecutorial nominees. By ruling against the administration’s use of the Vacancies Act, the court has limited the executive branch's ability to install permanent-style leadership in local districts without legislative consent. This follows a similar precedent set in December 2025 by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which disqualified Alina Habba from serving as the acting U.S. Attorney in New Jersey on similar grounds.
The ruling takes immediate effect, though the U.S. Attorney’s Office website in Nevada continued to list Chattah as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney following the Monday decision. It remains unclear if the Department of Justice will appeal to the full 9th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. If the ruling stands, the administration must either nominate a candidate who can secure Senate confirmation or allow district judges to appoint an interim prosecutor as provided by federal law. Additionally, defendants in other districts where similar appointments were made may use this as a basis to challenge the authority of their respective prosecutors.