SerpApi.Org
Roger Rogoff was fired within 54 minutes after he assumed the role of the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington. He is now suing the Trump administration, arguing that he should be allowed to continue until a permanent successor is named.
Rogoff, who has practiced law for more than 30 years, including as a state prosecutor, assistant U.S. attorney, judge, and director of the Washington Office of Independent Investigations, was sworn in after being unanimously appointed by a panel of federal judges. President Donald Trump then fired him, leaving the position in Seattle vacant again.
Rogoff named President Donald Trump, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice as defendants. According to NBC News, he called the firing “unlawful,” and is asking to resume his position until the vacancy is filled by presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. “Less than an hour after he was sworn in, Rogoff was purportedly fired via an email from the Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel that stated: ‘the President of the United States has directed that I inform you that, pursuant to his authority under 28 U.S.C. 541(c) and Article II of the Constitution, you are hereby removed from the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington,” the lawsuit states.
“The Constitution gives Congress the power to prescribe how inferior officers will be appointed. Congress has done so for U.S. Attorneys. This Court acted in accordance with the express terms of that congressional enactment when it appointed Rogoff as U.S. Attorney. The President may not summarily fire him. The President may remove an appointee only by appointing a Senate-confirmed successor,” the lawsuit said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said the district court did not follow proper protocol by not consulting the Justice Department on its selection. “The district court did not coordinate with the DOJ on this selection. Consistent with other firings of this type, this is wholly within the President’s authority,” the spokesperson said, according to NBC News.
Todd Blanche’s Statement
Blanche said in a statement on X that district court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them. “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,” he wrote.
Rogoff’s defense team has argued that his firing violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. “By purporting to fire Mr. Rogoff — and apparently committing to firing anyone else a district court appoints without ‘the support of POTUS’ — the President has attempted to negate Congress’s exercise of its constitutionally enumerated power,” Rogoff’s attorney Jason A. Rittereiser said in the lawsuit.
According to NBC News, U.S. attorneys are generally appointed by presidents. After the president selects a candidate, the appointment requires Senate confirmation. Temporary appointees can be named by the U.S. attorney general and are capped at serving 120 days.
Rogoff is the first to sue Trump after being fired as a U.S. attorney following an appointment by federal judges.
The Western District of Washington has not had a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney in place since mid-2023. After Mr. Trump began his second term, he fired Tessa Gorman from the post. She had been appointed by the district judges in the area in May 2024. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle is currently led by Charles Neil Floyd, the first assistant U.S. attorney. Mr. Trump has not announced a nominee for U.S. attorney, according to CBS News. “Rogoff’s wrongful removal harms the separation of powers. That constitutional harm directly endangers the public interest,” Rogoff said in the lawsuit.
