President Donald Trump fired Seattle’s newly appointed top federal prosecutor less than an hour after federal judges put him in the job, setting up a fresh clash over who controls temporary U.S. attorney posts.
Roger Rogoff, a former judge and longtime state and federal prosecutor, was sworn in as U.S. attorney for western Washington before 8 a.m. Wednesday at the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle.
Rogoff said he then went to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to meet Charles Neil Floyd, whose 120-day interim term had ended in February. While waiting in a lobby, Rogoff said, he received an email from the Trump administration telling him he had been removed.
Rogoff said he is consulting other lawyers about suing over the firing.
U.S. attorneys are usually nominated by presidents and confirmed by the Senate. When a temporary appointment expires before confirmation, federal judges in the district can name a U.S. attorney.
The Seattle court, made up of 17 active and senior judges appointed by five presidents, issued a unanimous order Wednesday naming Rogoff to the post after using a bipartisan panel to review applicants.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the firing in a social media post. “District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them,” he said. Blanche also said the judges who selected Rogoff “abandoned the time-honored process of consultation with the administration so that the selected U.S. Attorney is qualified to serve in the administration.”
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington condemned the removal, saying Rogoff “was appointed legally by the federal judges in the Western District of Washington.”
Rogoff said he knew the administration might move quickly against him, but said the court’s confidence in him was “really humbling and amazing.”
