Vaughan B-W
@vaughanbw.bsky.social
242 followers 213 following 760 posts
Ex-Melburnian, now Londoner, regulatory lawyer, #ActuallyAutistic, personal account, views are my own (if they're even that).
Ex-Melburnian, now Londoner, regulatory lawyer, #ActuallyAutistic, personal account, views are my own (if they're even that).
![Virginia was invalid and that Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025."). In both opinions, Judge Currie concluded that "[a]ll actions flowing from Ms. Halligan's defective appointment... [constituted] unlawful exercises of executive
power ...." Comey Opinion at 28; James Opinion at 25.
Ms. Halligan's response, in which she was joined by both the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice. The Court will not engage in a similar tit-for-tat and will instead analyze the few points that Ms. Halligan offers to justify her continued identification of her position as United States Attorney before the Court. Ultimately, the Court concludes for the reasons that follow that Ms. Halligan's continued identification of herself as the United States Attorney for this District ignores a binding court order and may not continue; otherwise, Ms. Halligan and anyone who joins her on a pleading containing the improper moniker subjects themselves to potential disciplinary action in this Court pursuant to the Court's Local Rules.
I.
Relevant Procedural History
In her opinions, Judge Currie set forth the procedural history leading up to her decision.
The Court recounts here only that history necessary to evaluate Ms. Halligan's position in this
case:
On January 20, 2025, Jessica Aber, who had been nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate, resigned from her position as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The following day, the Attorney General appointed Erik Siebert as Interim U.S. Attorney under 28 U.S.C. § 546. Mr. Siebert's 120-day interim appointment vas set to expire on May 21, 2025. So, on May 9, 2025, the judges of the district xercised their authority under section 546(d) to appoint Mr. Siebert to continue in hi](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:t4x2ruk2qmob2b2cx55h4v7r/bafkreif3bv223wshsxxmb4jasqdgvweo47hwuddhlwuxr7rptl6edzh2qy)
