Lindsey Halligan’s fall just got deeper: the job she insists she still holds is now openly recruiting her replacement.
Two months after a judge ruled that President Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney was illegally serving in the role, Halligan continues to cling to the Eastern District of Virginia’s top prosecutorial job.
But the 36-year-old former beauty pageant contestant and insurance lawyer got a reality check Tuesday, when a federal judge ordered a job listing seeking applicants to fill the U.S. attorney position.
Chief Judge M. Hannah Lauck, an Obama-appointee, declared the position “vacant” in her order, which said the court was “soliciting expressions of interest” from attorneys. The application deadline is listed as Feb. 10, 2026.
Hours after Lauck’s order, Trump-appointed District Judge David Novak issued his own ruling directing Halligan to stop referring to herself a U.S. attorney or face disciplinary proceedings.
“No matter all of her machinations, Ms. Halligan has no legal basis to represent to this Court that she holds the position. And any such representation going forward can only be described as a false statement made in direct defiance of valid court orders,” Novak wrote. “In short, this charade of Ms. Halligan masquerading as the United States Attorney for this District in direct defiance of binding court orders must come to an end.”
Halligan has continued calling herself the U.S. attorney on the Eastern District of Virginia’s website and on X, and has signed criminal indictments as the U.S. attorney. She has also identified herself as U.S. attorney in the signature block of court documents.
Novak declared that the court would strike the title from her signature block and bar her from representing herself as U.S. attorney. He then took an apparent jab at Halligan’s thin prosecutorial resumé while threatening disciplinary action.
“The Court recognizes that Ms. Halligan lacks the prosecutorial experience that has long been the norm for those nominated to the position of United States Attorney in this District,” wrote Novak, whom Trump appointed in 2019. “Consequently, and in light of her inexperience, the Court grants Ms. Halligan the benefit of the doubt and refrains from referring her for further investigation and disciplinary action regarding her misrepresentations to this Court at this time.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Federal law gives the district judges the power to appoint the U.S. attorney after an interim U.S. attorney has been in office for 120 days.
Halligan, who previously worked as a civil attorney for Trump, was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney on September 23 after her predecessor was pushed out over his refusal to bring cases against Trump’s perceived enemies.
She quickly secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York state Attorney General Letitia James. But in November, Clinton-appointed Judge Cameron Currie threw out Halligan’s indictments on the grounds that she was unlawfully serving as interim U.S. attorney.
