Trump immediately fires the new court-appointed top prosecutor in Seattle

President Donald Trump has fired the new top U.S. prosecutor in Seattle less than an hour after the attorney was unanimously appointed by the federal judges in the district

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press

July 15, 2026, 9:57 PM ET

• 4 min read

SEATTLE – President Donald Trump fired the new top U.S. prosecutor in Seattle on Wednesday less thanan hour after the attorney was unanimously appointed by the federal judges in the district, highlighting tensions between the courts and the president over the powerful positions.

Roger Rogoff, a former judge and veteran state and federal prosecutor, was sworn in as U.S. attorney before 8 a.m. at the U.S. courthouse in downtown Seattle. In a phone interview, ==he said he then went to the U.S. Attorney's Office and asked to meet with Charles Neil Floyd, whose 120-day interim term in the position ended in February.•=

As he waited in a lobby,Rogoff said, he received an email from the Trump administration informing him he'd been removed. He is consulting with other lawyers about suing over his firing, he said.

Presidents normally appoint U.S. 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 U.S. attorney.

But under Trump, the Justice Departmenthas sought to leave unconfirmed prosecutors in their positions indefinitely, often through novel personnel maneuvers.

“District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them,” Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a social media post Wednesday. He added that the judges who appointed Rogoff “abandoned the time-honored process of consultation with the administration so that the selected U.S. Attorney is qualified to serve in the administration.”

Trump named Floyd, who previously served as an immigration judge, interim U.S. attorney last Octoberbut never forwarded his nomination to the Senate. When Floyd’s time as interim U.S. attorney expired,Trump simply shifted his title, a tactic the administration has also tried in other federal judicial districts: It named him first assistant U.S. attorney,while leaving the top post empty.

In May, a U.S. 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.

On Wednesday morning the court — comprising 17 active and senior judges appointed by five presidents —issued its unanimous order naming Rogoff the U.S. attorney for western Washington.

Democratic Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, who had opposed Floyd for the U.S. attorney job, blasted Rogoff's quick firing.

“Throughout 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,” the senator said in a written statement. “This administration doesn’t want to deal with advice and consent—they just want to install cronies to carry out a corrupt political agenda.”

In December, Alina Habbaresigned as the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey after an appeals court said she had been serving in the post unlawfully.

Lindsey Halligan, who pursued indictments against a pair of Trump’s adversaries, left her position as an acting U.S. attorney in Virginia after a judge concluded her appointment was unlawful and that indictments she brought against James and former FBI Director James Comey must be dismissed.

The judges there named James Hundley, who had handled criminal and civil cases for more than 30 years, but the administration fired him. It also fired a court-appointed U.S. attorney in northern New York.

Rogoff, who spent 20 years as a state prosecutor and six as a federal prosecutor before becoming a state judge, said he knew the administration might fire him immediately. But he said he had no qualms about the potential conflict he was walking into. Being U.S. attorney is “the best job there is” for a prosecutor, he said.

“I'm really proud of my career," Rogoff said. "The fact that the judges of this district — most of whom I've spent my career appearing in front of, or trying cases against, or working with — believed that I was the right person to do this work is just really humbling and amazing.”

https://abcnews.com/amp/US/wireStory/trump-immediately-fires-new-court-appointed-top-prosecutor-134804513

Leafy village votes overwhelmingly in favour of independence referendum over plan to build massive migrant camp

Piddington residents packed into the village hall to back the motion

George Bunn

An Oxfordshire village has voted to hold a referendum on becoming an independent state in protest against plans for a nearby asylum seeker camp.

Residents of Piddington, near Bicester, held a meeting at the Village Hall on July 4 where 175 voted yes to the ­independence vote, and only seven saying no.

Planning permission currently being sought at Ministry of Defence sites in Bicester, as well as Barnham in Suffolk, and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, to accommodate 3,750 asylum seekers.

The Oxfordshire site would be turned into accommodation for at least 1,250 single adult male ­asylum seekers aged 18 to 65.

Now, Parish council chair Tim McNally has welcomed the village's decision andsaid he plans to take the proposals all the way to President Donald Trump.

He told The Express: "We had an incredible result with almost two-thirds of the village voting, the rest were childrenand an acceptance of 96 per cent. It was truly astonishing.

"Self-determination is what people want whilst they are being ignored and driven into a corner. This is a ­natural human instinct and reaction.

"The Principality of Piddington, the village that roared,will put together their council and representatives to empower themselves.

"I have been given the mandate from the village to bring together the best minds and attitude to seek the best solution."

https://www.gbnews.com/news/migrant-crisis-leafy-village-votes-overwhelmingly-independence-referendum

>>24832949

Taking to Trump the president of the U.S., amazing they know their own country will not give them freedom from illegal migrants. Good on them

Senate GOP isn’t sold on Mike Johnson’s budget blueprint

Majority Leader John Thune said the speaker’s plans to have a fiscal blueprint finished this summer were “news to me.”Thune and corrupt clan will block the Save Act anyway he can1/2

By JORDAIN CARNEY

07/16/2026 11:53 AM EDT

Senate Republicans are pouring cold water on the House GOP’s $95 billion blueprint for a new party-line spending package.

Their skepticism is a reality check on Speaker Mike Johnson’s ambitious pledge that the Senate will adopt a budget resolution before leaving in early August.

“That’d be news to me,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday about Johnson’s floated timeline, indicating he had signed on to no such thing.

His comments came as the House Budget Committee debated a resolution that would pave the way for drafting and passing a party-line policy bill with the power to skirt the Senate filibuster.

Thune and Johnson have had a good working relationship. But Johnson’s penchant for speaking for the Senate over the past year, including during last summer’s debate over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, has been a point of frustration for Thune and his allies — especially because Thune is mindful not to speak for the House.

Some Senate Republicans are also exasperated with the House’s decision to push forward with a third reconciliation attempt — a followup to last year’s tax-cuts-focused megabill and the immigration enforcement package from June. They view it as more of a midterm messaging effort than an actual attempt to legislate, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose private conversations.

It’s not just the timeline though that is an issue in the Senate, though: The House’s blueprint also contains $73 billion for military and intelligence efforts, as well as $12 billion in farm assistance and $10 billion for election-related efforts. Senate GOP defense hawks want a higher number for the military, and agriculture-state Republicans are clamoring for more farm aid.

That means the Senate will need to amend the House budget blueprint to add instructions for its own committees that could involve setting higher spending ceilings for the military and agriculture aid, according to three people granted anonymity to speak candidly.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/16/senate-budget-reconciliation-tensions-01000751

>>24833008

2/2

Thune tipped his hand Thursday morning to the hurdles he’ll face among Senate Republicans, repeatedly asking, “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”

He also noted that while defense hawks would want a larger military number, fiscal hawks are going to want to pay for the bill.

And giving the Agriculture Committee buy-in to provide funding for farm assistance could end up giving Democrats an opening to force votes on a host of politically sensitive issues including cuts to federal food aid.

“Then the question on the floor of … can we get 50 [votes] on anything? And even if we can get 50 to pass it, can we defeat all the poison-pill amendments?”

Thune said. “‘I’m not pooh-poohing it, I’m just saying people need to think long and hard. … It’s a much easier proposition in the House.”

Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 GOP leader, is also keeping his powder dry but predicted thatJohnson will need to help sell Senate Republicans on any budget resolution that can get through the House.

“I expect that [Johnson is] going to be part of the whip team once he gets that passed. So we’re going to wait and see what he can get over here,” he said.

On one side of the Senate GOP, leaders are likely to face skepticism from some members of the Appropriations Committee.

Chair Susan Collins(R-Maine), for instance, said she hadn’t yet looked at the House framework but “in general my view is that we should not be using reconciliation, we should work through the normal appropriations process.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), another senior appropriator, also voted against the second reconciliation bill, which funded immigration enforcement for the rest of Trump’s term over concerns about its impact on the government funding process.

Thune also has deficit hawks, including incoming Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who are likely to want to include offsets for at least part of the spending. The House’s plan currently includes no offsets. The Wisconsin Republican met with Thune Thursday morning to talk about a third reconciliation bill, where Thune walked through some of the same concerns he outlined to reporters.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a member of the Budget Committee, said in a statement that Congress should “pass a reconciliation package which is paid for” — and, if a short-term government funding bill can’t pass, “the reconciliation package needs to fund important government services.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) added on X Thursday: “Our national debt is a runaway train. The next reconciliation bill should be fully paid for.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/16/senate-budget-reconciliation-tensions-01000751

Thom Tillis tells Todd Blanche to meet with Epstein victims — or don't expect his support The attorney general nominee has roughly two weeks to arrange the meeting.. 1/2

By CHRIS MARQUETTE and ERICA ORDEN

07/16/2026 12:05 PM EDT

Sen. Thom Tillis said Thursday his vote to confirm attorney general nominee Todd Blancheis contingent on Blanche meeting with victims of the late convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.

The North Carolina Republican’s new demand creates yet another hurdle for Blanche’s confirmation, which will fail to advance to the Senate floor if one Republican on the Judiciary Committee defects — assuming all Democrats on the panel oppose him. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is also undecided.

“I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote out of this committee and I’m trying to get to ‘yes,’ but this is a very important part of getting to ‘yes,’” Tillis, who is retiringat the end of the Congress, said at the second day of Blanche’s nomination hearings.

Blanche will need to have this meeting before July 30, the likely date that the Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene to vote on whether to report Blanche’s nomination favorably to the full Senate.

The current acting attorney general was not present at the hearing Thursday, having answered questions from lawmakers for hours the day before. The Thursday hearing was instead an opportunity for outside witnesses to testify for or against Blanche’s character.

One of the witnesses, invited by Democrats, was Dani Bensky, a survivor of Epstein’s abuse whose identity was exposed as part of a botched redaction process during the release of the Epstein files that Blanche, in his capacity as deputy attorney general, oversaw.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a comment asking if Blanche would agree to meet with the victims in response to Tillis’ ultimatum.Blanche said during his testimony Wednesday that he was barred from meeting with Epstein’s victims due to his job with the Justice Department but that they were welcome to meet with DOJ staff.

The requirement to meet with victims now would likely create an unwelcome dynamic for Blanche that he might try to resist, as it would make it appear as though he is being backed into a corner and can be forced to acquiesce to senators’ demands in exchange for their votes. It would also force Blanche to hold the sensitive meeting on someone else’s terms and with the victims’ knowledge that he is doing it to earn confirmation.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/16/thom-tillis-todd-blanche-epstein-victims-confirmation-01000757

>>24833088

2/2

It could, as well, complicate Blanche’s upcoming transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Bipartisan leaders of the panel reiterated Wednesday they intend to call Blanche to testify in their ongoing Epstein investigation soon after senators vote on his confirmation.

Tillis emerged from Blanche’s confirmation hearing Wednesday appearing almost sold, repeating Thursday he had “a positive predisposition” to vote “yes” — despite having reservations about the fate of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” While Blanche said several times the fund was “dead,” Tillis has continued to clamor for passage of legislation codifying its demise.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn’t rule out they might help make that happen to satisfy Tillis — as well as for Cornyn, who made it clear Wednesday he is not convinced a controversial Trump settlement with the IRS providing for the creation of the fund as well as wide audit protections to Trump’s family and business would not one day be revived.

“A lot of it would depend on where our conference is and if the president is going to sign it obviously,” Thune said of legislation to formally terminate the account. “But I think some of those discussions are being held.”

Tillis and Cornyn are both leaving office at the end of this Congress, with Cornyn pushed out by a Trump-backed primary challenger and Tillis deciding to retire after multiple policy breaks with the president.

Cornyn did not say Thursday he needs Blanche to meet with Epstein victims for his vote, but noted he’s “happy to have [Blanche] meet with them.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/16/thom-tillis-todd-blanche-epstein-victims-confirmation-01000757

(Both Tillis and Cornyn should be arrested as so as they leave.)

‘Scared s–tless’: Republicans brace for Trump’s primetime speech. 1/3

Rehashing grievances about the 2020 election could motivate the Republican base andpress GOP lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act.

President Donald Trump is promising to reveal “really big news” on election security.Many Republicans wish he wouldn’t.

The president’s speech, expected to be delivered in prime time Thursday from the White House, comes amid renewed hostilities with Iran, which are once again driving up fuel prices ahead of an election that most strategists still expect to turn on cost-of-living issues.

But instead of touting the recent good news on declining inflation or hyping the new housing law, Trump plans to talk about 2020 and “free and fair elections,”alarming some in the GOP who worry he will continue to make baseless claims or repeat debunked conspiracies. (He’s not stupid enough to bring the proof with him, if he’s doing that)

“The people I talk to are scared shitless,” said a former Trump administration official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “It’s not scared shitless about the text of what he’s going to say, it’s, what does he add to the text?”

Republican operatives, including those in Trump’s inner circle, have pleaded for months for an unrelenting focus on the economy. And while the president has talked up his tax cuts and Trump Accounts during campaign stops, his decision to use a rare prime time address to focus on election integrity is a missed opportunity,the former official said.(he’s a former because he’s stupid)

“From the White House, they would prefer to be talking about economic conditions improving,” the former official said. “And any second of the day that’s not spent talking about that right nowI’m surefrustrates many in the administration.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said he’d reserve judgment until he heard what the president says but stressed that the economy is what’s top of mind for most voters.

“If you’re asking me, when moms and dads lie down to sleep at night and can’t, what are they mostly worried about? I would say cost of living,” he said. “That’s what I believe, but he’s the president and he was elected by the people and he can talk about whatever he wants.”

Rehashing grievances about the 2020 race, which President Joe Biden won, could motivate the Republican base and help close a yawning enthusiasm gap between the two parties. Some of the president’s most die-hard supporters have argued that coreMAGA voters need to see movement on the president’s 2024 campaign trail promises, like mass deportations and prosecuting voter fraud, or else they may stay home come November.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/16/republicans-brace-trump-speech-election-fraud-00999640

>>24833168

2/3

“The election integrity revelations coming on Thursday and thereafter will be the exact tonic the MAGA grassroots base need to fire them up— to remind them of what they are really fighting for in these crucial November elections,” said former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

But that strategy does little in races where Republican victory relies on persuading more moderate voters, said Steve Cortes, a former Trump adviser.

“There are a lot of people in our base, as I do, who believe it was a grave injustice,” Cortes said of the 2020 contest. “But I believe for the persuadable voters, the non-MAGA people, talking about an election from six years ago sounds like sour grapes.”

The White House hasn’t previewed the announcement and press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on speculation that Trump would talk about the 2020 election.

“As usual, anonymous sources are speculating about what President Trump will say during his speech on Thursday evening.The truth is, nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say, which is why everyone should tune in,”Leavitt said.

Trump, however, is fixated on the 2020 election, which he insists was stolen. And in Trump’s telling, it’s an ongoing plot. Trump over the last several weeks has accused Democrats of cheating Spencer Pratt in the Los Angeles mayoral primary.

He has used these allegations to press Republican lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, an election reforms bill that would require voter ID and documentary proof of U.S. citizenship, and is expected to do so again Thursday night.

“If the Senate doesn’t act on [the SAVE America Act], there’s going to be great disappointment. A lot of elections are going to be decided by very close margins,” said Trump pollster John McLaughlin. “If the Republicans disappoint their base in a turnout election, it’ll be really bad for us.”

Senate Majority Leader JohnThune maintains there are not the votes to pass it while some of his MAGA allies in the Senate, like Sens. Rick Scott(Fla.) and Mike Lee (Utah), have pushed the upper chamber to deliver it for the president by ending the filibuster.

“I have no idea what the president will talk about tomorrow night, and nobody does because he hasn’t talked yet. Am I concerned about election integrity? Yes.Do I think that we should pass voter ID in this body? Yes, we should,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). “If you go poll Missourians,‘Do you like voter ID or not?’ you’re going to find it’s overwhelming. It’s like 80 percent of Missourians want voter ID.”(so voters won’t oppose the Save Act, it’s the corrupt republicans in senate)

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/16/republicans-brace-trump-speech-election-fraud-00999640

>>24833169

3/3

A POLITICO poll from Mayfound that key provisions of the SAVE America Act are popular-among Americans overall. But that does little to allay concerns that Trump will veer into misinformation and personal grievance surrounding 2020 at a moment when most in the GOP are eager to attack a slate of Democratic socialists who’ve grabbed the mantle on the left.

“Republicans won Hispanics, swing voters and young Americans in 2024 by exposing that extremism and offering a better alternative to open borders, the Green New Deal and left-wing identity politics,” said a GOP senate campaign official, granted anonymity to speak about intraparty dynamics.

“If we spend our time looking in the rearview mirror instead of through the windshield, we’ll drive our coalition right off a political cliff.”

Thune said on Wednesday that he didn’t know what Trump will say in his speechbut that he also wants to look ahead.

“The only thing I can tell you is we are focused on the 2026 election — at least I am and I think most of my colleagues are,” Thune said.

In one of his first acts as president in 2025, Trump pardoned Jan. 6 defendants who were jailed for their role in the riots at the U.S. Capitol and earlier this year he subpoenaed 2020 election records.

Meanwhile, Democrats have asked Trump’s administration nominees about the 2020 election, testing if they agree with the president’s view that the race was stolen while it’s treated as a litmus test among MAGA.

Director of National Intelligence nominee Jay Clayton was asked several times by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in his confirmation hearing on Wednesday who won the 2020 election.Clayton responded, “I’m not going to do this with you.”

“Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president’s delusions?” Ossoff said. “We know, you know, everybody in this room knows the truthful answer to that question. Why can you not give it?”

Trump said on Tuesdaythe speech will “concern” the subject of election machines and integrity. He called the announcement, without previewing it, “really big news.”

“Our country has to shape up,” the president said. “What we’re going to be talking about Thursday, is, it doesn’t get bigger because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country.”

(It seems like the Republicans are more concerned about Trumps speech than the Democrats, there’s a reason for that!)

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/16/republicans-brace-trump-speech-election-fraud-00999640

>>24833177. Too bad you can’t handle stress, take a break

>>24833198. KEK