In a July 22, 2026 PBS NewsHour interview with justice correspondent Ali Rogin, Roger Rogoff — a former Washington state judge and prosecutor — explained why he is suing the federal government after being fired by email within an hour of being sworn in as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington. A panel of district judges had unanimously selected him under the Vacancies Act, which Rogoff says allows judges to fill the post after 120 days without a Senate-confirmed appointee; he argues the judges followed that statute exactly and that the suit is about preserving the Senate’s advice-and-consent role. He warned that leaving the office under a de facto leader whose temporary appointment lapsed in February exposes indictments and subpoenas to challenge by defendants and civil litigants, and damages morale inside the office. Rogoff also said he had committed to advancing the administration’s stated enforcement priorities — human trafficking, international drug and gun trafficking, and immigration cases among them — and distinguished his situation from a recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential removal power, arguing a specific vacancy statute governs here. The Justice Department maintains the firing was lawful.

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