US attorney who served 54 minutes becomes first to sue Trump over firing

WASHINGTON, DC: Roger Rogoff sued the Trump administration after serving just 54 minutes as US attorney for the Western District of Washington, becoming the first court-appointed US attorney to challenge President Donald Trump's authority to fire him.

Rogoff is seeking to return to the job until a permanent successor is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

His lawsuit argues the firing violated federal law and the Constitution after a panel of federal judges unanimously appointed him to fill the long-vacant post.

Roger Rogoff challenges Trump's firing authority

Rogoff, a former judge and state and federal prosecutor, was sworn in last week before learning that Trump had fired him less than an hour later.

According to the NBC News report on Wednesday, July 22, Rogoff’s lawsuit, filed against Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department, asks a federal judge to declare the dismissal "unlawful" and restore him as US attorney until the vacancy is filled through the normal presidential nomination and Senate confirmation process.

Rogoff's attorneys argue federal law expressly allows district court judges to appoint a US attorney when a temporary appointment expires and the office remains vacant, the report said.

They also contend the firing violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, it added.

"By purporting to fire Mr Rogoff — and apparently committing to firing anyone else a district court appoints without 'the support of POTUS' — the President has attempted to negate Congress's exercise of its constitutionally enumerated power," attorney Jason A Rittereiser wrote in the lawsuit.

Justice Department defends Trump's action

The White House referred questions about the lawsuit to the Justice Department, which defended the president's authority to remove Rogoff.

"The district court did not coordinate with DOJ on this selection. Consistent with other firings of this type, this is wholly within the president's authority," a Justice Department spokesperson said.

Blanche reinforced that position on X, writing, "District court judges can appoint a temporary US Attorney, and POTUS can fire them."

He also argued that the judges "abandoned the time-honored process of consultation with the administration so that the selected US attorney is qualified to serve in the administration."

Earlier firings set stage for lawsuit

Rogoff is the first US attorney appointed by federal judges to sue the Trump administration after being removed from office, according to the report.

The dispute follows similar actions involving other court-appointed prosecutors. The report cited Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally serving as acting US attorney in Virginia, who left her position after a federal judge ruled her appointment unlawful.

Federal judges then appointed longtime litigator James Hundley, but the Justice Department fired him just hours after he was sworn in, the report said.

The administration also dismissed Donald Kinsella, it added, after federal judges appointed him to lead the Northern District of New York following another ruling that a previous acting US attorney had been serving unlawfully.

After Hundley's and Kinsella's removals, Blanche, then serving as deputy attorney general, maintained that Trump retained the authority to appoint US attorneys and that federal judges did not.