Trump-Appointed Prosecutor Sigal Chattah Loses Appeals Court Fight

Sigal Chattah was photographed in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Aug.

19, 2022. —Bizuayehu Tesfaye—Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images A federal appeals court upheld a ruling Monday disqualifying Sigal Chattah from serving as acting U.S.

Attorney for the District of Nevada, dealing another setback to the Trump Administration’s efforts to keep preferred federal prosecutors in place without confirmation from the Senate.

Chattah was appointed interim U.S.

Attorney for the district in April 2025.

Just before the end of that 120-day period in July, she resigned and was designated first assistant in Nevada.

The first assistant to a vacant office can generally serve as its acting official under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) of 1998 .

In effect, the move blocked Nevada judges from replacing her with a new interim U.S.

Attorney.

Monday’s opinion , written by Judge Eric Miller, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, held that the rule “applies only to a first assistant who held that position at the time the vacancy arose; it does not apply to a first assistant who never served under a validly appointed official.” The Trump Administration now plans to take the dispute to the Supreme Court.

“We disagree with the 9 th Circuit’s decision and we plan to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court,” a spokesperson for the Justice Department told TIME.

Read More: Supreme Court Rejects Trump Appeal in E.

Jean Carroll Sexual Abuse Case—Again Chattah’s path to the appeals court Monday’s ruling upholds an order from September 2025, in which a federal judge disqualified Chattah from supervising three cases in the district and serving as the acting U.S.

Attorney.