The courts have, yet again, stepped in to stop Donald Trump from doing something that he really wanted to do. In this case, a federal judge in Washington state ruled that Trump cannot fire U.S. attorneys appointed by the courts.
CNN is reporting that Trump fired Roger Rogoff after less than one hour on the job. A federal court appointed Rogoff as the U.S. Attorney for Seattle in July.
Judge Bastian, the chief judge in the Eastern District of Washington, said:
“Mr. Roger Rogoff is the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington and has been the rightful holder of that office since July 15, 2026, when he took the oath of office.”
Period.
Courts have struggled with the Trump administration abusing the “interim” US attorney right that new administrations have, which allows them to place prosecutors in temporary roles for up to 120 days. Once those 120 days end, either the Senate must confirm the president’s permanent appointee, or the local federal court can appoint someone.
Trump has struggled to get his appointees confirmed, so he has stopped trying. He has resorted to firing court-appointed prosecutors and then reappointing a handpicked replacement.
So, courts are stepping in. Judge Bastian said that the president can only remove Senate-confirmed US attorneys:
“Allowing the president to fire a United States attorney appointed by the court also eliminates the incentive to nominate a candidate that can be confirmed by the Senate. In other words, the executive and legislative branches are supposed to and encouraged to work together.”
The DOJ believes that the president has the right to fire anyone and plans to appeal the ruling. With the super conservative, Trump-loving 6-3 majority in the Supreme Court, I fear they will rule that Trump can, in fact, fire anyone he wants.
Let’s see.
