The Trump administration fired a federal prosecutor in Seattle Wednesday within an hour of his appointment, after judges in the Western District of Washington installed him without White House approval.
Roger Rogoff, 57, was sworn in as U.S. attorney before 8 a.m. local time at the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle. He then walked to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and asked to meet with Charles Neil Floyd, the administration’s preferred candidate for the position. While Rogoff waited in the lobby, he received an email notifying him that President Trump had terminated him.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the firing publicly on X while simultaneously testifying before the Senate during his own confirmation hearing.
“District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them,” Blanche wrote. “WDWA judges abandoned the time-honored process of consultation with the administration so that the selected U.S. Attorney is qualified to serve in the administration. Roger Rogoff has been fired by the President.”
All 17 active and senior federal judges in the district had appointed Rogoff after the administration left the top prosecutor post vacant. Floyd, the administration’s preferred pick, had been serving as acting U.S. attorney. His 120-day interim term expired in February. Rather than submit Floyd’s name to the Senate for confirmation, the administration kept him in place as first assistant U.S. attorney while leaving the top position officially empty.
Under federal law, if a 120-day interim term expires without a Senate-confirmed nominee, district judges may appoint someone to fill the vacancy. The judges, appointed by five different presidents including 10 by Democrats and seven by Republicans, opened a formal application process and selected Rogoff, a former King County Superior Court judge with 20 years as a state prosecutor and six as a federal prosecutor.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) issued a statement condemning the firing.
“Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to public service, and he was appointed legally by the federal judges in the Western District of Washington,” Murray said. “This administration doesn’t want to deal with advice and consent, they just want to install cronies to carry out a corrupt political agenda.”
Trump administration officials have maintained that the Senate’s “advise and consent” role does not give Democrats a hard block on executive priorities and nominees.
Rogoff said he was aware the administration might fire him immediately, but accepted the appointment anyway.
“I’m really proud of my career,” Rogoff told reporters. “The fact that the judges of this district believed that I was the right person to do this work is just really humbling and amazing.”
He has retained an employment law firm and is weighing a legal challenge to his removal.
The Seattle dispute follows similar conflicts in other jurisdictions. In New Jersey, former acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba resigned after an appeals court ruled she had been serving unlawfully. In Virginia, acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan left the post after a judge found her appointment unlawful and dismissed indictments she had brought against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.
