US President Donald Trump has fired newly appointed US Attorney in Seattle, Roger Rogoff, less than an hour after his appointment.
According to Associated Press, Trump on Wednesday, July 15, ousted the new top US prosecutor in Seattle who was unanimously appointed by the federal judges.
The former judge and federal prosecutor were sworn in as US attorney before 8 am at the downtown courthouse in Seattle. He then went to the US Attorney’s Office to meet Charles Neil Floyd, whose around four-month interim term ended in February.
He was waiting in the lobby when he received an email from the Trump administration that he has been fired.
‘POTUS can fire US Attorney’
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a social media post on Wednesday, said that the US president can fire attorneys appointed by court judges.
He wrote on X, “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.”
Trump appointed former immigration judge Floyd as interim US attorney in October 2025 and never forwarded his nomination to the Senate.
After his interim term ended after 120 days, he changed his title and named him first assistant US attorney, leaving the top post empty.
How are US attorneys appointed?
In the United States, the president appoints US attorneys, the top federal prosecutors in each judicial district.
The appointment needs Senate approval, but temporary appointments could be made without Senate confirmation.
If a temporary appointment expires before a new nominee for the position is confirmed, the judge in the judicial district can name one.
However, in the Trump administration, the Justice Department has kept prosecutors in office without Senate approval for as long as possible by using unusual methods.
