A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump unlawfully fired Roger Rogoff, the court-appointed U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, and ordered him reinstated. Chief U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian ruled Thursday that federal law allows district judges to appoint a U.S. attorney when a presidential nominee has not been confirmed by the Senate. The law authorizes the appointment “until the vacancy is filled,” Bastian wrote, adding that it does not say the president may end the appointment by firing the prosecutor. Rogoff, a former judge and longtime prosecutor, took office July 15 after all 17 active and senior judges in the Western District unanimously selected him. Trump dismissed him less than an hour later. Rogoff then sued. “Mr. Roger Rogoff is the United States attorney for the Western District of Washington and has been the rightful holder of that office since July 15, 2026, when he took the oath of office,” Bastian wrote. The Justice Department said it disagreed with the ruling and would appeal. The dispute is part of a broader clash over presidential authority and judicial appointments to the nation’s top federal prosecutor jobs. U.S. attorneys are generally nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Temporary appointments can last up to 120 days; if that period ends without a confirmed nominee, federal law allows district judges to select a prosecutor. In Seattle, Trump named Charles Neil Floyd interim U.S. attorney in October 2025 but did not send his nomination to the Senate. After Floyd’s interim term expired, the administration changed his title to first assistant U.S. attorney while leaving the top position vacant, a tactic it has also used in other districts. Trump later nominated Pete Serrano, then the first assistant U.S. attorney in eastern Washington, for the Seattle post. Serrano has not been confirmed, and Sen. Patty Murray, Washington’s senior Democratic senator, opposes his nomination. Murray called the ruling “an important victory for the rule of law and the people in Western Washington who deserve a U.S. attorney that answers to the law, not Donald Trump.” Bastian, who is chief judge in the Eastern District of Washington, heard the case after Western District judges recused themselves. Rogoff is believed to be the first court-appointed U.S. attorney removed by the Trump administration to sue over the dismissal. The administration has also faced legal challenges over other appointments. In New Jersey, Alina Habba resigned as the top federal prosecutor in December after an appeals court found she had served unlawfully. In Virginia, a judge ruled that acting U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan’s appointment was unlawful and said indictments she brought against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey must be dismissed. The judges there appointed veteran attorney James Hundley, whom the administration later fired. The administration also dismissed a court-appointed U.S. attorney in northern New York.