# United States v. Giraud > [!note] Stub > This is a short entry that hasn't been fully written yet. **A precedential Third Circuit opinion of 1 December 2025** (Nos. 25-2635 and 25-2636, argued 20 October 2025; Judges Restrepo, Smith and Fisher, with Judge Fisher writing) holding that [[Alina Habba]] was not lawfully exercising the powers of the United States Attorney for New Jersey, and affirming her disqualification from two prosecutions. Three holdings, each independently load-bearing for the [[Federal Vacancies Reform Act]]: 1. **The first-assistant provision reaches only the person already in the post.** Under 5 U.S.C. § 3345(a)(1), "only the first assistant in place at the time of the vacancy automatically assumes acting status." Being moved into the first-assistant post after the vacancy arose does not qualify. 2. **Withdrawing a nomination does not lift the § 3345(b)(1) bar.** The bar is triggered by the submission, and "the withdrawal of a nomination necessarily happens after 'the President submits a nomination.'" It runs for the rest of the vacancy. 3. **A general delegation statute is not a way around the Act.** The [[Attorney General]]'s delegation of all United States Attorney powers to one person violated the Act's exclusivity provision, 5 U.S.C. § 3347(a)–(b), because 28 U.S.C. §§ 509, 510 and 515 are general vesting and delegation statutes. Otherwise the delegate could "serve as the de facto U.S. Attorney indefinitely." The court distinguished the [[Kajmowicz v. Whitaker]] line of cases as construing the separate definition in § 3348, which is limited to that section and does not govern § 3347 exclusivity, and declined to follow the Federal Circuit's contrary approach. **What it did not decide.** The validity of the underlying interim appointment under 28 U.S.C. § 546, the district court's denial of the motions to dismiss the indictments, and — expressly left open — whether a *dispersed* delegation of the same powers across several officials would survive § 3347. The remedy was prospective disqualification, not dismissal. ## See also - [[How an Acting Official Is Installed]] — the Act as a process, with this holding at Stages B, C and H - [[How a U.S. Attorney Is Appointed and Removed]] — the office and its own appointment statute - [[Federal Vacancies Reform Act]] · [[NLRB v. SW General]] · [[Kajmowicz v. Whitaker]] - [[Alina Habba]] · [[Department of Justice]] · [[Appointments Clause]] · [[Separation of Powers]]