Roger Rogoff filed a Trump administration US attorney lawsuit after the Trump administration fired him 54 minutes after he was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington. He was appointed last week by a unanimous panel of district court judges, and the case now puts his removal against the administration's claim that the firing was within presidential authority.
Western District of Washington
Rogoff says the appointment process gave the district court a role that did not end when he took office. He argues the law lets the Department of Justice appoint an interim U.S. attorney for 120 days, then leaves the local district court with the right to appoint a replacement until the vacancy is filled.
In his view, that structure means he could not be removed before a permanent replacement was approved by the Senate. The lawsuit turns that reading into a direct challenge to the Trump administration's decision to cut short his tenure almost immediately after it began.
Department of Justice
A Department of Justice spokesperson rejected Rogoff's position, saying, "The district court did not coordinate with DOJ on this selection" and, "Consistent with other firings of this type, this is wholly within the President’s authority." The department's position makes the dispute a test of whether the president can remove a court-selected U.S. attorney before the temporary appointment process runs its course.
Rogoff's firing followed dismissals in New Jersey, New York and Virginia, where the Trump administration removed U.S. attorneys very early in their tenure. Rogoff is the first to challenge the move in court, which puts a judicial review around a removal question that had so far been handled inside the executive branch.
Roger Rogoff
The practical question now is whether a court will let Rogoff stay in place while the lawsuit proceeds. If a judge accepts his reading of the 120-day interim authority, the case could determine how long a district court selection can remain in office before a Senate-approved successor takes over.
