Washington US attorney appointee says his firing by Trump was illegal

SEATTLE — The lawyer appointed by judges to be the U.S. attorney in the Western District of Washington, only to be fired by President Donald Trump less than an hour later, has sued the president and his attorney general in federal court, claiming Trump's actions were illegal and cannot stand."

The lawsuit contends that Seattle attorney Roger Rogoff, a former federal prosecutor and King County judge, is the duly appointed U.S. attorney until the president follows the law and formally nominates a candidate, who must be vetted and approved by the U.S. Senate.

“The President’s actions violate the law, and they ignore the protections of the Constitution of the United States," Rogoff said in a statement. "His removal of me, like his removal of other court-appointed U.S. Attorneys across the country, is illegal and cannot stand."

Trump appointed former immigration judge Charles Neil Floyd as interim U.S. attorney last October and later named him "first assistant" U.S. attorney to run the office. Floyd was never formally nominated, has never appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and has never been brought up before the U.S. Senate for advice and consent.

Filed Tuesday in Seattle, the lawsuit calls for an injunction requiring the administration "to enforce the limits Congress placed on temporary appointments, to mandate compliance with the Appointments Clause [of the U.S. Constitution] and to protect the separation of powers."

Rogoff is also requesting a preliminary injunction to install him as the U.S. attorney in Western Washington despite Trump's decision to terminate him.

"Defendants’ firing of Mr. Rogoff has caused — and continues to cause — immediate, severe, and irreparable harm," the lawsuit alleges. "Mr. Rogoff stands deprived of his statutory authority to function in the role to which the Court lawfully appointed him."

"Defendant's actions also severely harm the public interest," the lawsuit says. "The people of the Western District of Washington have no validly appointed U.S. attorney to prosecute federal crimes, investigate violations of federal law, and ensure lawful order."

Without a "validly appointed U.S. attorney," Rogoff's lawsuit contends, the U.S. attorney's ability to prosecute could be questioned.

"Prosecutors may be subject to disqualification, and the validity of all prosecutorial and enforcement actions by the U.S. attorney’s office is in jeopardy," the complaint says.

The lawsuit relies on a statute passed by Congress and rooted in the U.S. Constitution's appointments clause. The statute states that if an interim appointment is not confirmed within 120 days, the judges in that district can appoint a U.S. attorney pending the proper nomination of a successor.

Judges in the Western District of Washington have appointed U.S. attorneys two other times in recent history: Annette Hayes in 2014 and Tessa Gorman in 2024. Those appointments were never challenged. Gorman was fired by Trump and briefly replaced by Teal Luthy Miller, who was replaced by Floyd.

Indeed, the lawsuit notes that the Western District of Washington has not had a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney since June 2023, when Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney Nick Brown resigned ahead of his campaign for state attorney general.

Judges began seeking candidates for U.S. attorney last January as the 120-day deadline for Floyd's formal nomination approached in February. Rogoff applied and was vetted by a bipartisan merit selection panel. He was chosen and sworn in as U.S. attorney last Wednesday at 7:40 a.m. by Chief U.S. District Judge David Estudillo, a move authorized by the other 16 judges in the district. Trump fired him 54 minutes later.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized the district's judges in a post on X the same day. Blanche is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and [the president of the United States] can fire them," Blanche wrote. "[Western District of Washington] 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.”

The lawsuit claims Trump's "actions have caused and continue to cause irreparable harm to Mr. Rogoff and to the administration of justice in this district."

Rogoff recently resigned as the inaugural director of the office of independent investigations, formed to review police killings. He is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law and began his career in the King County prosecuting attorney’s office, where he handled sexual assault and domestic violence cases, eventually rising to supervise those units.

He was appointed a King County Superior Court judge by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2013. In 2022, Inslee also appointed Rogoff to head the statewide office of independent investigations.

The lawsuit notes that Trump and acting Attorney General Blanche have contested court-appointed U.S. attorneys in New Jersey, the Northern District of New York and the Eastern District of Virginia.

If Rogoff's case follows what has happened in those districts, the judges in Western Washington will recuse themselves over a potential conflict of interest and an outside judge will be appointed to hear the case.

In the Eastern District of Washington, Pete Serrano continues to serve as a "first assistant U.S. attorney without having ever been formally nominated.