Trump fires Seattle's new United States attorney in an hour
President Donald Trump immediately removed Roger Rogoff as the court-appointed United States attorney for western Washington, firing him less than an hour after federal judges unanimously installed him. The clash underscores who controls top federal prosecutors when a vacancy lasts and no Senate-confirmed nominee is in place.
Key Takeaways
- Federal judges in the Western District of Washington unanimously appointed Roger Rogoff as United States attorney on Wednesday morning; Trump removed him less than an hour later.
- Rogoff was sworn in before 8 a.m. in Seattle, then learned of his firing by email while waiting at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said judges may appoint a temporary U.S. attorney and the president can fire them, accusing the court of skipping consultation with the administration.
- Rogoff is weighing legal options after a termination notice citing presidential authority under 28 U.S.C. 541(c) and Article II.
- The office has been led through interim and “first assistant” arrangements after Charles Neil Floyd’s 120-day interim term expired.
The showdown matters far beyond one courthouse. A United States attorney directs federal criminal and civil enforcement for an entire district—cases that touch businesses, markets, and everyday financial life. Readers who track policy risk alongside wealth hacks and passive income strategies should watch how long this vacancy fight lasts and who ultimately signs charging decisions.
What exactly happened in Seattle on Wednesday?
According to CNN’s reporting on the episode, President Donald Trump fired Seattle’s newly installed top federal prosecutor less than an hour after district judges unanimously appointed him.
Rogoff, a former state judge and longtime state and federal prosecutor, was sworn in as United States attorney before 8 a.m. at the U.S. courthouse in downtown Seattle. He then went to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and asked to meet Charles Neil Floyd, whose 120-day interim term had ended in February.
While waiting in a lobby, Rogoff said he received an administration email saying he had been removed. Bloomberg Law reported the White House rapidly fired the judicially appointed pick, and The New York Times similarly framed the dismissal as coming minutes after the appointment.
Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Covington, cited by Bloomberg Law, said the written notice told Rogoff that the president had directed his removal from the office of United States attorney for the Western District of Washington pursuant to authority under 28 U.S.C. 541(c) and Article II of the Constitution.
Why did federal judges appoint a United States attorney?
Presidents normally nominate U.S. attorneys, who then need Senate confirmation, except for temporary appointments. When temporary appointments expire before a nominee is confirmed, judges in a judicial district can name a United States attorney.
Trump named Floyd, a former immigration judge, interim U.S. attorney last October but never forwarded a nomination to the Senate. After the interim term expired, the administration shifted Floyd’s title to first assistant U.S. attorney while leaving the top post empty—a maneuver Bloomberg Law said followed him exceeding the 120-day maximum.
In May, a U.S. appeals court panel expressed skepticism that the approach was legal. Seattle’s federal judges then took applications and used a bipartisan panel to review them. On Wednesday morning, the court—17 active and senior judges appointed by five presidents—issued a unanimous order naming Rogoff.
Chief U.S. District Judge David Estudillo said the court acted given the longstanding vacancy and to ensure the integrity and effective administration of justice. Estudillo’s order praised Rogoff’s deep ties to the district and career of public service.
Bloomberg Law noted the order landed while acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was testifying in a Senate confirmation hearing. Blanche had warned Western Washington judges in March that whoever they named would “suffer the same fate as” other recent judicial selections who conflicted with the president’s preferred chief prosecutor.
How is the Trump administration defending the firing?
“District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them,” Blanche wrote in a social media post Wednesday. He said the 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.”
That argument frames the president as retaining removal power even when judges fill a temporary vacancy. Bloomberg Law said the rapid firing could set up a legal battle over the executive branch’s termination authority for judicially appointed prosecutors—potentially the first pitched fight of its kind.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who had opposed Floyd for the job, condemned the quick dismissal. She said Rogoff was appointed legally by the district’s federal judges and accused the administration of avoiding advice-and-consent while seeking to install loyalists.
Murray has said she would block Floyd if Trump nominated him, Bloomberg Law reported, leaving the vacancy path unresolved without a Senate-confirmable choice.
Who is Roger Rogoff, and will he sue?
Rogoff spent about 20 years as a state prosecutor and six as a federal prosecutor before becoming a state judge. Bloomberg Law described him as a veteran prosecutor and former Democrat-appointed state jurist who previously served as a King County Superior Court judge and as director of Washington’s Office of Independent Investigations after appointment by former Gov. Jay Inslee.
His resume also includes work as a Microsoft lawyer and as a federal prosecutor focused on terrorism and violent crime in Seattle, plus service as a King County senior deputy prosecutor.
Rogoff said he knew the administration might fire him immediately but had no qualms about the conflict. Being United States attorney, he said, is “the best job there is” for a prosecutor. He called the judges’ confidence humbling, noting he had spent his career appearing before, trying cases against, or working with many of them.
After the firing, Rogoff said he was considering all legal options and had retained HKM Employment Attorneys LLP. In a firm statement, he argued that the rule of law requires prosecutorial decisions free from political interference and respect for lawful judicial appointments. He also said the president may choose a U.S. attorney only with the Senate’s advice and consent, calling the current situation untenable, not constitutional, and not legal.
Similar flashpoints have already hit other districts. Court-appointed U.S. attorneys in Virginia and northern New York were fired after judges stepped in. In New Jersey, Alina Habba resigned after an appeals court said she had been serving unlawfully. Those precedents help explain why Seattle lawyers, according to Bloomberg Law, had discussed selecting someone willing to litigate if fired.
For now, the practical question is simple: who runs the Western District of Washington’s federal prosecutions while Trump, the courts, and possibly Rogoff’s lawyers contest the meaning of a statutory judicial appointment? Until a Senate-confirmed United States attorney is in place—or a court resolves the removal fight—the district remains in the same institutional fog that prompted the judges to act.