Back in December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a district court order concluding that Alina Habba was not lawfully acting as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Yesterday, the Third Circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc. Of the twelve judges eligible to participate in the en banc vote, three noted their dissent from the order (Judges Phipps, Matey, and Mascott), one of which (Mascott) "will file a separate dissent sur rehearing on a later date."

The question now is whether the Administration will seek to bring this case to the Supreme Court.

My co-blogger Paul Cassell offered commentary on the Third Circuit's "curious" initial decision here.