Appeals Court Pauses Order Reinstating Trump-Fired Seattle U.S. Attorney Rogoff

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an administrative stay on October 4, 2026, in Rogoff v. Trump, pausing a trial court's October 1 order restoring Roger Rogoff, a former career prosecutor and state judge, as the top federal prosecutor for the Western District of Washington. The trial court had found Trump's firing of Rogoff violated the Constitution and federal statute. The Justice Department's emergency filing described Rogoff's return as "chaos" and asked the appeals court to block it while the firing is litigated further.

The stay keeps Rogoff sidelined for now. The Ninth Circuit has not ruled on the merits of the government's request for a longer stay during the appeal, leaving Trump's removal power over Senate-unconfirmed U.S. attorneys unresolved.