Trump-Appointed Attorney For Delaware Abruptly Quits, Cites Flawed ‘Blue Slip’ Tradition

President Donald Trump’s U.S. attorney in Delaware has stepped down following a court ruling that found Alina Habba was unlawfully serving as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey.

Julianne Murray, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, submitted her resignation on Friday. In a public statement, Murray defended her tenure and emphasized that she had not acted to advance political interests while in office, the Washington Examiner reported.

“I naively believed that I would be judged on my performance and not politics. Unfortunately, that was not the case,” Murray wrote, blaming the “highly politicized, flawed blue slip tradition” for cutting her interim tenure short.

“Senator Coons and Senator Blunt Rochester refused to return a blue slip for political reasons, not performance reasons,” she added. “This is not about advice and consent. Because of this incredibly flawed tradition, I wasn’t even considered by the Judiciary Committee, let alone the entire Senate.”

Murray, a former chairwoman of the Delaware Republican Party, referenced the ruling that led to Habba’s removal in explaining her own decision to resign. She said stepping down was necessary to preserve confidence in the rule of law and the integrity of the Justice Department’s appointment process.

“Stability and protecting the integrity of our investigations is my only focus. I cannot in good conscience allow my office to become a political football. The employees of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware are dedicated, hard-working people that should be able to do their work without this distraction,” she wrote, before endorsing her successor, Ben Wallace, as “the only person” she would like to see fulfill the role if she’s unable to do so.

Murray stated that she would keep working for the Justice Department in another role, and then concluded with a tone of defiance.

“The people that think they have chased me away will soon find out that they are mistaken,” Murray concluded. “I did not get here by being a shrinking violet. God has a plan, and my faith gives me the comfort that I do not need to know what that plan is. Onward.”

The long-standing “blue slip” tradition for judicial nominees has become a major obstacle for President Trump, prompting him to call repeatedly for the Senate to eliminate the practice.

Senate Republicans, however, have shown rare resistance to the president on the issue, aligning with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a strong defender of the century-old, nonbinding rule.

Under the practice, the Senate Judiciary Committee will not advance certain nominees unless both home-state senators return a favorable blue slip. With Democrats uniformly opposing nominees perceived as partisan loyalists or lacking prosecutorial experience, the White House has increasingly relied on acting appointments that expire quickly.

Recent court rulings limiting the administration’s ability to extend those acting terms dealt a significant setback, culminating in the resignation of Alina Habba after a court found her appointment unlawful.

Trump has said clinging to the old tradition is denying him the opportunity to appoint U.S. attorneys and therefore also upsetting the judicial processes in the jurisdictions where partisan Democrats refuse to return the slips.

Bondi announced Monday that Habba will shift into a new role as the attorney general’s senior adviser, where she will oversee U.S. attorneys nationwide. Three Department of Justice officials will assume additional responsibilities within the New Jersey federal district following Habba’s resignation, Fox News reported.

“The court’s ruling has made it untenable for [Habba] to effectively run her office, with politicized judges pausing trials designed to bring violent criminals to justice,” Bondi said in a statement.

Bondi said the Justice Department would “seek further review” of the appellate court’s ruling and expressed confidence that the decision would be overturned. If that happens, Bondi added, Habba intends to resume her role as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, the report said.