A former U.S. attorney whom President Donald Trump fired less than an hour into his role has sued the president and the Department of Justice over his abrupt firing, requesting a preliminary injunction to restore him to the position.
Roger Rogoff, a former judge and career prosecutor, filed the lawsuit in the Western District of Washington, where he was appointed U.S. attorney for just 54 minutes before Trump removed him from the post. Rogoff and his attorneys argue that his removal was illegal and are requesting the court invalidate the firing and restore him as U.S. attorney.
Rogoff’s 29-page complaint argues the Trump administration violated federal laws around judicial appointments, which are constitutionally enshrined in the appointments clause. His lawyers said that, under the correct legal procedure, Rogoff would serve as the court-appointed U.S. attorney until the president nominates a permanent appointee of his own to the post and the Senate confirms that appointee.
“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,” Rogoff’s attorneys wrote in their preliminary injunction request.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Western Washington has been turned over several times in the past couple of years. The last Senate-confirmed attorney to sit in the office was current state Attorney General Nick Brown, who was appointed by then-President Joe Biden in 2021 but resigned in 2023 to run for the top office. After Brown resigned, Tessa Gorman served as acting U.S. attorney, then U.S. attorney in the seat, appointed by then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Sworn in as regular U.S. attorney in January 2024, Gorman was then fired under the Trump administration and replaced by interim U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd, who was appointed by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. After Floyd’s 120-day interim term expired, the court tapped Rogoff for the job. Since Rogoff’s firing, Floyd has been leading the court as the first assistant U.S. attorney.
Rogoff’s lawyers argue that their client “shall serve ‘until the vacancy is filled’ by a Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney,” according to federal statute.
“But no person has yet been nominated, let alone confirmed, to fill the vacancy,” his lawyers wrote in the complaint.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who is facing a Senate confirmation vote of his own, defended Trump’s move of firing Rogoff on July 15, arguing the court had not properly consulted the administration on the nomination.
TRUMP FIRES NEWLY APPOINTED TOP SEATTLE PROSECUTOR
“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,” Blanche wrote on X.
Rogoff is not the first court-appointed U.S. attorney to be ousted by the Trump administration, but appears to be the first to file a lawsuit over his firing.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
