Seattle

At 7:40 a.m. Wednesday, federal judges in the Western District of Washington swore in former King County Superior Court judge and federal prosecutor Roger Rogoff as their pick for U.S. attorney.

Fifty-four minutes later, President Donald Trump fired him.

Rogoff, who recently resigned as director of the state office of independent investigations, formed to investigate police killings, is now the rope in a tug-of-war with the Trump administration. The district’s 17 sitting federal judges began looking for a replacement for Neil Floyd in January after the president failed to formally nominate him, instead appointing Floyd as interim and later as a “first assistant” U.S. attorney in order to sidestep the nomination process.

Rogoff said he was waiting in the lobby of the U.S. District Courthouse downtown to meet with Floyd, and presumably take Floyd’s office, when he got an email saying he’d been fired.

“We are working on legal action right now,” Rogoff said. “The rule of law requires that prosecutorial decisions remain free from political interference, and that lawful judicial appointments be respected. I remain grateful for the confidence placed in me and proud of the career professionals who continue to serve the people of Western Washington.”

Rogoff’s firing sets up a legal battle over a federal statute that gives a district’s federal judges authority to appoint a U.S. attorney if there is no formal nomination or Senate hearing.