A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Friday in a closely watched fight over presidential authority and the appointment of federal prosecutors, after President Donald Trump removed Seattle-area U.S. Attorney Roger Rogoff soon after federal judges selected him for the post. Justice Department lawyer Mark Freeman urged the panel to rule that Trump had the power to fire Rogoff. Freeman argued that a federal judge’s decision earlier this month against the administration could not be squared with Supreme Court precedent on presidential control of the executive branch, including a recent ruling known as Slaughter that expanded the president’s authority to remove certain agency leaders. Rogoff’s case challenges Trump’s decision to dismiss him immediately after the district’s federal judges appointed him in July. The lower-court judge concluded that Trump lacked authority to remove a court-appointed U.S. attorney and had broken the law by doing so. Rogoff’s attorney, Don Verrilli Jr., a former U.S. solicitor general, faced questions from the panel. Judges Richard Paez, appointed by President Bill Clinton; Jay Bybee, appointed by President George W. Bush; and Jennifer Sung, appointed by President Joe Biden, appeared skeptical of several of Verrilli’s arguments, but did not clearly signal support for either side. The appeals court’s decision will determine whether the lower-court ruling stands and could clarify the limits of presidential removal power when federal judges, rather than the White House, appoint a U.S. attorney. The arguments took place Oct. 23; the panel’s ruling was not reported at the hearing.