Trump fires court-appointed U.S. attorney in Seattle within an hour of his swearing-in

Roger Rogoff was sworn in before 8 a.m. at the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle on Wednesday, the product of a unanimous order from a court comprising 17 active and senior judges appointed by five presidents. Shortly after, while waiting in a lobby to meet with outgoing interim U.S. attorney Charles Neil Floyd, Rogoff received an email from the Trump administration informing him he had been removed from the position.

The firing is the latest episode in a sustained dispute between federal courts and the Trump administration over control of U.S. attorney posts. Presidents normally appoint U.S. attorneys, subject to Senate confirmation; when temporary appointments expire without a Senate-confirmed successor, federal judges in a district are authorized to name one. The Trump administration has sought to work around this process by leaving unconfirmed prosecutors in their roles through novel personnel arrangements, according to both CNN and the Associated Press. In Floyd's case, the administration shifted his title to first assistant U.S. attorney after his 120-day interim term expired in February, leaving the top post formally vacant. A U.S. appeals court panel expressed skepticism about the legality of that maneuver in May, prompting the district's judges to solicit applications and convene a bipartisan review panel before appointing Rogoff.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the firing in a social media post, writing that while district court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. attorney, the president retains authority to remove that person. Blanche also said the appointing judges had "abandoned the time-honored process of consultation with the administration so that the selected U.S. Attorney is qualified to serve in the administration."