SeattleAP\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n President Donald Trump fired the new top US prosecutor in Seattle on Wednesday less than an hour after the attorney was unanimously appointed by the federal judges in the district, highlighting tensions<\/a> between the courts and the president over the powerful positions.\n <\/p>\n \n Roger Rogoff, a former judge and veteran state and federal prosecutor, was sworn in as US attorney before 8 a.m. at the courthouse in downtown Seattle. In a phone interview, he said he then went to the US Attorney\u2019s Office and asked to meet with Charles Neil Floyd, whose 120-day interim term in the position ended in February.\n <\/p>\n \n As he waited in a lobby, Rogoff said, he received an email from the Trump administration informing him he\u2019d been removed. He is consulting with other lawyers about suing over his firing, he said.\n <\/p>\n \n Presidents normally appoint US attorneys, the top federal prosecutor in each judicial district. The positions require Senate confirmation, except in temporary appointments. When temporary appointments expire before a nominee is confirmed, the judges in a judicial district can name a US attorney.\n <\/p>\n \n But under Trump, the Justice Department has sought to leave unconfirmed prosecutors in their positions indefinitely, often through novel personnel maneuvers.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cDistrict court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them,\u201d Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a social media post Wednesday. He added that the judges who appointed Rogoff \u201cabandoned the time-honored process of consultation with the administration so that the selected U.S. Attorney is qualified to serve in the administration.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Trump named Floyd, who previously served as an immigration judge, interim US attorney last October but never forwarded his nomination to the Senate. When Floyd\u2019s time as interim US attorney expired, Trump simply shifted his title, a tactic the administration has also tried in other federal judicial districts: It named him first assistant US attorney, while leaving the top post empty.\n <\/p>\n \n In May, a US appeals court panel expressed skepticism that the maneuver was legal. The federal judges in the city decided to take applications for the position, and it appointed a bipartisan panel to review the applications.\n <\/p>\n \n On Wednesday morning the court \u2014 comprising 17 active and senior judges appointed by five presidents \u2014 issued its unanimous order naming Rogoff the US attorney for western Washington.\n <\/p>\n \n Democratic Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who had opposed Floyd for the US attorney job, blasted Rogoff\u2019s quick firing.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThroughout 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,\u201d the senator said in a written statement. \u201cThis administration doesn\u2019t want to deal with advice and consent\u2014they just want to install cronies to carry out a corrupt political agenda.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In December, Alina Habba resigned<\/a> as the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey after an appeals court said she had been serving in the post unlawfully<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n