Ninth Circuit Pauses Order Reinstating Seattle Prosecutor Trump Fired

The Ninth Circuit on Sunday put on hold a judge’s order that would have put Roger Rogoff back in as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, the Seattle prosecutor President Trump fired in July less than an hour after federal judges named him.

The appeals court granted the Justice Department an administrative stay while it considers the merits. Reuters reported that the order was not signed by any judge and is meant only to preserve the status quo while the appeal proceeds. For now, Rogoff does not return to the office. The department has asked that first assistant Charles Neil Floyd remain in charge pending the appeal.

Rogoff was appointed July 15 by a unanimous vote of the district’s judges. The top job had sat without a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney since 2023. Federal law lets the attorney general name an interim prosecutor for a limited term. If the vacancy continues, the district court may appoint a U.S. attorney to serve until the Senate confirms someone else. Trump removed Rogoff minutes after he took the oath. Rogoff sued on July 21, the first court-appointed U.S. attorney to challenge a firing in this term. His lawyers argued the administration was using the first assistant’s status to hold the office without a nomination and confirmation.

On Thursday, Chief Judge Stanley Bastian of the Eastern District of Washington, an Obama appointee sitting on the case, ruled from the bench for Rogoff. “Congress did not give the power to fill this inferior office to the president alone,” he said. The president “cannot unilaterally fire a United States attorney appointed by the district court.” Bastian ordered Rogoff reinstated, barred Attorney General Todd Blanche from blocking him until the Senate confirms a successor, and denied the government’s request for a stay. He said it was “in the public’s interest to have the executive branch follow the law.” Rogoff left the Seattle courthouse saying he was going to the office.

The Justice Department said it disagreed and would seek an immediate stay and appeal. It filed that request Friday. Sunday’s Ninth Circuit order is the result. It does not decide whether a president can fire a court-appointed U.S. attorney. It keeps the July removal in place while that question is briefed.

Trump has removed other court-appointed prosecutors this term. The administration’s position is that the firing power sits with the executive. Rogoff’s case is the first of those removals to produce a reinstatement order, and the first to reach an appeals court.