A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration broke the law when it fired Maurene Comey from her position as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan last year, rejecting the Justice Department’s argument that the president had sweeping constitutional authority to remove prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman said Comey’s abrupt dismissal was not authorized by any statute and violated the Civil Service Reform Act. Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, sued the Justice Department after she was fired without an explanation. The administration argued that Article II of the Constitution, which sets out presidential powers, prevented Congress from restricting the president’s ability to remove federal prosecutors. Furman said that position conflicted with nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent. In his ruling, Furman wrote that officials had advanced “a new and expansive theory of executive power” in claiming authority under Article II and federal law to fire Comey. The decision marks a judicial check on the administration’s effort to assert broad control over federal prosecutors. The ruling, issued in New York on Oct. 26, did not specify in the information available what further action the government or Comey may take.