Federal judge bars Lindsey Halligan from calling herself Eastern Virginia U.S. attorney

U.S. District Judge David J. Novak has ordered Lindsey Halligan to stop identifying herself as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in pleadings or otherwise before his court, underscoring continuing judicial consequences from a November ruling that found her appointment unlawful. Novak’s directive, issued Jan. 20, 2026, bars Halligan from using the title “until such time as she may lawfully hold the office either by Senate confirmation or appointment by this Court,” and warns that further misrepresentations could prompt disciplinary referrals.

Halligan, a former White House aide tapped as an interim U.S. attorney by President Donald Trump, has led a string of high-profile prosecutions in the Richmond-based district. Those cases included indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. In November, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, brought in from South Carolina to adjudicate motions in those matters, concluded that Halligan was not lawfully installed because she was neither confirmed by the Senate nor validly appointed by the federal judiciary. Currie’s finding led to the dismissal of the indictments she had secured.

Novak’s order stresses that Currie’s ruling remains binding within the Eastern District of Virginia and has not been stayed while the Justice Department pursues an appeal. The judge confined his bar to appearances before his court, explicitly preventing Halligan from signing filings or representing herself as the district’s U.S. attorney in Novak’s proceedings. He made clear that persistent use of the title in his courtroom could lead to referrals for investigation and disciplinary action, but he declined to make such referrals immediately, citing Halligan’s relative inexperience compared with the traditional background of U.S. attorney nominees.

The order follows a contentious exchange earlier in the litigation. When Novak demanded an explanation for Halligan’s use of the title, she and the Justice Department — joined in filings by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — argued that Currie’s decision did not bar her from acting as or calling herself the U.S. attorney. Novak later criticized that filing for its tone and substance, saying it fell short of the standards expected of the department and its litigants.

Across related cases, other judges in the district have responded to Currie’s ruling by stripping Halligan’s name from filings or appending judicial footnotes noting the finding that her appointment was unlawful. Department of Justice officials have objected to Novak’s request for an explanation and have pressed their appeal of Currie’s decision, maintaining that the matter should be resolved through the appellate process.

Novak’s order narrows Halligan’s formal authority at least within his courtroom and signals the practical consequences that flow from judicial determinations about appointment power. With the Justice Department’s appeal pending, the question of who may lawfully act as the district’s U.S. attorney remains unresolved, but Novak has left open the prospect of disciplinary measures should Halligan continue to present herself as the district’s chief federal prosecutor in his court.