Segal Chata was found to have violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act in her appointment as U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada.
Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
The Lawfare PodcastSep 14, 2026
The Ninth Circuit ruled on August 17, 2026 that the DOJ violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act when it designated Sigal Chattah as first assistant to install her as acting U.S. Attorney for Nevada, and Judge David Campbell reached a similar ruling in 2025.
What was said
… Okay, I think we can do this fast. Uhm, uh, the government has filed a cert petition uh with the Supreme Court to, uh, to review the disqualification of, uhm, Segal Chata. She was the uh the would-be U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada, and uh her, she was one of these cases where the administration tried to manipulate, or manipulate was found to have violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. And that's the one that, so this is not the same as, uh, the the statute that, um, uh, Lindsey Halligan was disqualified for violation of. This is the other one. This is, uh, this is where, uhm, it says that, among other things, that when, uh, a U.S. …
The Lawfare Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Ninth Circuit panel held that DOJ violated the FVRA when it designated Sigal Chattah as the office's first assistant in order to appoint her as acting U.S. Attorney, and the court disqualified her from supervising prosecutions.[1][2][3]
Supports. Federal District Judge David Campbell ruled in 2025 that Chattah had been unlawfully serving as Acting U.S. Attorney for Nevada because her continued service stemmed from manipulative personnel moves that violated the FVRA.[4]
Supports. A later Defender Services report confirms the Ninth Circuit found Chattah serving unlawfully under the FVRA, joining every other court that has considered the question.[5]
Context. The sources describe Chattah as acting or interim U.S. Attorney rather than a Senate-confirmed one, and the government has petitioned the Supreme Court to review the disqualification.[1][2]
Sources
5 sources: 1 tier 3, 4 not rated
- 1Far-right MAGA prosecutor yet again ruled to be illegally serving in her rolerawstory.com · tier 3 · cited for: supports, context
- 2DOJ Asks Justices to Clear Path for Trump's Nevada Prosecutornews.bloomberglaw.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 3Sigal Chattah was rightly disqualified, 9th Circuit ruleslawandcrime.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Federal Judge Rules Sigal Chattah Unlawfully Served as ...democracydocket.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Ninth Circuit Finds Nevada US Atty Serving Unlawfully - fd.orgfd.org · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government's practice of appointing first assistants to serve as U.S. Attorneys to circumvent Senate confirmation violates the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.True
- The government filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court to review the disqualification of Segal Chata as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada.True
- The federal government failed to demonstrate that any of the 14,000 individuals they claimed were ineligible to vote in Nevada were actually ineligible.Mixed
- The Department of Justice subpoenaed the state of Nevada for their voter rolls.True
- A federal judge ruled that Bill Assaly is not legally serving as the top U.S. Prosecutor in Los Angeles and disqualified him from overseeing two criminal prosecutions.True