SEATTLE—A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s firing of Roger Rogoff and reinstated him as U.S. attorney for Western Washington, ruling that the president cannot unilaterally remove a prosecutor appointed by the district court.
U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian, a Barak Obama appointee and chief judge of the Eastern District of Washington, granted Rogoff a preliminary injunction and refused to pause the order while the Justice Department appeals. Speaking from the bench, he said Rogoff “is the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington and has been the rightful holder of that office since July 15, 2026,” the day he took the oath.
The judges of the Western District appointed Rogoff unanimously after the post sat without a Senate-confirmed leader. Federal law lets the attorney general name an interim U.S. attorney for 120 days; once that window closes, the district court may fill the vacancy until the Senate confirms a nominee. Rogoff, a former federal prosecutor and King County Superior Court judge, was sworn in at the Seattle courthouse on the morning of July 15. Trump fired him by email less than an hour later.
The administration had left the office in the hands of Charles Neil Floyd, who had served as interim U.S. attorney and then as first assistant after his statutory term expired. Earlier this month, Trump nominated Pete Serrano, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Eastern Washington and a former Pasco mayor, for the Western District post. Serrano has not been confirmed. Bastian said neither Floyd nor Serrano holds the office.
Rogoff sued in July, arguing the firing sidestepped the Senate’s confirmation role. Bastian agreed, saying Congress did not give the power to fill the office to the president alone and that allowing the removal “would upend the framework created by the Constitution and the statutes.” The order bars the administration from carrying out the firing, treating Rogoff as removed, or blocking his access to the office, staff and pay. It also entitles him to back pay.
Leaving the courthouse, Rogoff called the decision “a win for the rule of law, not for me,” and said he was headed to the office. He remains in the job, he said, only until a nominee is confirmed.
The Justice Department said it disagrees with the ruling, will seek an immediate stay and plans to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Background
Author: Mario Lotmore
