A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Sigal Chattah is not validly serving as Nevada’s acting U.S. attorney, a setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to keep one of Nevada’s most outspoken conservatives serving as the state’s top federal law enforcement official.

U.S. District Judge David Campbell wrote in a 32-page ruling that he is disqualifying Chattah from supervising prosecutions against four people who had challenged their indictments brought after the Department of Justice designated her as the state’s acting U.S. attorney. 

“Given the Court’s conclusion that Ms. Chattah is not validly serving as Acting U.S. Attorney, her involvement in these cases would be unlawful,” the ruling said. “The Court will disqualify Ms. Chattah from participating in or supervising Defendants’ prosecutions.”

Based on this determination, Campbell wrote that there are three options on how to proceed: The president can appoint a temporary acting U.S. attorney that abides by certain strict federal requirements, the existing judges on Nevada’s federal bench can appoint someone to the role or the president can nominate someone to the position full-time and seek confirmation from the Senate.

Chattah and the Nevada’s public defender’s office, which filed the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

The ruling comes six months into Chattah’s tenure as Nevada’s top federal law enforcement officer. The Trump administration appointed her as interim U.S. attorney in March, which came with a 120-day term, but it then pursued a series of personnel maneuvers that reclassified her as the acting U.S. attorney. This allowed her to remain as Nevada’s top federal law enforcement official without Senate confirmation for an additional 210-day term, which expires in February.

Chattah’s influence as Nevada’s top federal prosecutor is far-reaching. On Tuesday, she signed off on a federal investigation into UNLV over antisemitism allegations. 

Reuters also reported on Tuesday that she urged the FBI to launch a voter fraud probe in Nevada in an effort to help Republicans. In response to that report, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) said that “Chattah is so unqualified that prosecutions of violent criminals might get thrown out, but she's found the time to chase ridiculous conspiracies for Trump.

Chattah resigned as the state’s interim U.S. attorney in July the day before her 120-day term was set to expire. That same day, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Chattah as the state’s first assistant U.S. attorney, a position that allows her to also serve as acting U.S. attorney for 210 days. The first assistant position became vacant after the Department of Justice transferred the previous officeholder to a new role.

In his ruling, Campbell — a judge in Arizona who was filling in to oversee this case — determined that these personnel maneuvers ran afoul of federal vacancies law.

“Its purpose would be defeated if the Executive Branch — the very branch Congress was trying to constrain — could choose whomever it wanted, whenever it wanted, and fill the vacancy simply by declaring that person to be first assistant,” Campbell wrote. “The Court cannot accept the government’s assertion that the Attorney General has power to designate anyone she chooses as first assistant and have that person become the acting U.S. Attorney.”

It follows a similar ruling in New Jersey, where a federal judge ruled that Alina Habba, who was also previously the state’s interim U.S. attorney, was unlawfully working as the state’s top federal prosecutor, opening the door for the potential disqualification of any cases prosecuted under her leadership. The Trump administration is appealing the decision.

Nevada’s federal public defender’s office filed lawsuits last month arguing cases against four people who were indicted while Chattah was the acting U.S. attorney should be thrown out. The office said that the Trump administration pursued illegal personnel changes to keep Chattah in office without being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and that she should be disqualified from her position while Nevada’s federal judges select a “proper” interim U.S. attorney.

The lawsuit also called for the disqualification of attorneys working under her direction.

However, Campbell’s ruling does not throw out these indictments entirely — only Chattah’s supervision of these cases. He required the other attorneys handling the case to affirm that Chattah is not supervising these cases.

The law in question is the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which the public defenders argued prevents Chattah from continuing to serve as U.S. attorney after her initial 120-day stint ended.

The Justice Department said in court filings its personnel decisions were done in accordance with the law and that there was “no basis to bar” Chattah or her attorneys from prosecuting the cases in question, even if her appointment was in doubt.

The ruling comes as Trump has increasingly relied on U.S. attorneys to achieve his political goals. Most recently, Trump forced out the top lawyer for the Eastern District of Virginia in favor of his former aide, Lindsey Halligan. Three days after Halligan’s appointment, she announced her office had indicted former FBI Director James Comey, an opponent of Trump, for allegedly lying under oath, despite prosecutors’ skepticism about the validity of the charges.

During oral arguments last week, lawyers with the federal public defender’s office said that the implications of the case were “not isolated to the district,” referencing the Virginia saga.

Updated on 9/30/25 at 5:38 p.m. to include a statement from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and reflect the attempts to reach Chattah and the federal public defender's office. The story was also updated to correct the number of indictments that Chattah can no longer have supervision over.