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Apparently the federal bench in Seattle thought it had discovered one weird trick to become the executive branch.
Liberal judges in the heavily Democratic Western District of Washington decided they could install their own preferred U.S. attorney without bothering to coordinate with the president who, inconveniently, is actually in charge of the executive branch. The experiment lasted about as long as a microwave burrito.
The Trump administration fired Roger Rogoff less than an hour after he was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the district.
That is a new record.
Rogoff had been elevated by all 17 active and senior federal judges after the administration declined to nominate him and instead kept its own preferred interim choice in place. Apparently the judges believed they had unlocked a constitutional cheat code where enough robes could outvote the Oval Office.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wasted no time reminding everyone how separation of powers actually works.
"District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote Wednesday on X as he testified before the Senate during his confirmation hearing, calling out the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington panel for elevating Roger Rogoff to lead the federal prosecutor's office in Seattle.
Blanche added, "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. Roger Rogoff has been fired by the President."
That is about as close as government gets to "Thanks for your application. We have decided to move forward with another candidate."
Rogoff, a longtime prosecutor and former state judge, was sworn in before 8 a.m. local time. He then walked over to the U.S. Attorney's Office intending to meet the administration's preferred candidate. While waiting in the lobby, he received an email informing him that President Trump had already removed him from the job.
It may have been the shortest commute to unemployment in Justice Department history.
Rogoff later acknowledged he expected the administration might dismiss him immediately but accepted the position anyway because it is "the best job there is."
"I’m really proud of my career," Rogoff said. "The fact that the judges of this district most of whom I’ve spent my career appearing in front of, or trying cases against, or working with believed that I was the right person to do this work is just really humbling and amazing."
Democrats reacted exactly as one would expect whenever a Republican president insists on exercising powers that belong to the Republican president.
Sen. Patty Murray rushed to defend the judges' attempt to bypass the administration.
"Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to public service, and he was appointed legally by the federal judges in the Western District of Washington," Murray wrote. "This administration doesn’t want to deal with advice and consent. They just want to install cronies to carry out a corrupt political agenda."
Critics might note that choosing the administration's own prosecutor is generally how every administration has operated since the country began, but that detail apparently failed to make the press release.
Rogoff told The New York Times that he does not believe this is the proper way to run the Department of Justice and said he is consulting attorneys about challenging his extraordinarily brief tenure.
The episode follows similar clashes in Democrat dominated jurisdictions where courts have sought to expand their influence over executive branch decisions. With Senate Democrats slowing confirmations, the Trump administration has relied on acting officials and other lawful mechanisms to staff key positions.
Seattle's judges tried to play executive for a day.
The actual executive reminded them who the executive is.
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Rogoff had been elevated by all 17 active and senior federal judges after the administration declined to nominate him and instead kept its own preferred interim choice in place. Apparently the judges believed they had unlocked a constitutional cheat code where enough robes could outvote the Oval Office.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wasted no time reminding everyone how separation of powers actually works.
"District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote Wednesday on X as he testified before the Senate during his confirmation hearing, calling out the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington panel for elevating Roger Rogoff to lead the federal prosecutor's office in Seattle.
Blanche added, "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. Roger Rogoff has been fired by the President."
That is about as close as government gets to "Thanks for your application. We have decided to move forward with another candidate."
Rogoff, a longtime prosecutor and former state judge, was sworn in before 8 a.m. local time. He then walked over to the U.S. Attorney's Office intending to meet the administration's preferred candidate. While waiting in the lobby, he received an email informing him that President Trump had already removed him from the job.
It may have been the shortest commute to unemployment in Justice Department history.
Rogoff later acknowledged he expected the administration might dismiss him immediately but accepted the position anyway because it is "the best job there is."
"I’m really proud of my career," Rogoff said. "The fact that the judges of this district most of whom I’ve spent my career appearing in front of, or trying cases against, or working with believed that I was the right person to do this work is just really humbling and amazing."
Democrats reacted exactly as one would expect whenever a Republican president insists on exercising powers that belong to the Republican president.
Sen. Patty Murray rushed to defend the judges' attempt to bypass the administration.
"Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to public service, and he was appointed legally by the federal judges in the Western District of Washington," Murray wrote. "This administration doesn’t want to deal with advice and consent. They just want to install cronies to carry out a corrupt political agenda."
Critics might note that choosing the administration's own prosecutor is generally how every administration has operated since the country began, but that detail apparently failed to make the press release.
Rogoff told The New York Times that he does not believe this is the proper way to run the Department of Justice and said he is consulting attorneys about challenging his extraordinarily brief tenure.
The episode follows similar clashes in Democrat dominated jurisdictions where courts have sought to expand their influence over executive branch decisions. With Senate Democrats slowing confirmations, the Trump administration has relied on acting officials and other lawful mechanisms to staff key positions.
Seattle's judges tried to play executive for a day.
The actual executive reminded them who the executive is.
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