President Donald Trump nominated Pete Serrano on Monday, Sept. 14, to lead the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.

The district's Tacoma Division covers Thurston County, including Olympia and Tumwater. The office prosecutes federal criminal cases and handles civil litigation involving the federal government across western Washington.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., immediately vowed to block the nomination. In a statement, Murray said she would use the blue slip process and every available tool to fight Serrano's confirmation. She called the nomination a sham, saying the administration created a workaround to install Serrano after his interim appointment in the Eastern District expired without a formal nomination from Trump.

The blue slip is a longstanding Senate tradition. The Judiciary Committee chair sends a consent form to both home-state senators, and if either withholds it, the nomination stalls.

Serrano, a former Pasco mayor and 2024 Republican candidate for Washington attorney general, currently serves as first assistant U.S. attorney and special attorney to Attorney General Todd Blanche in the Eastern District. He told the Washington State Standard he learned of the nomination that day and had not spoken to the president.

"It's just another day in the Trump administration in Washington," Serrano said.

The nomination follows a prolonged vacancy in the Western District. Federal judges there unanimously appointed Roger Rogoff, a former federal prosecutor and King County judge, to fill the post. The Trump administration fired Rogoff by email within an hour of his swearing-in. Rogoff has since sued, arguing the firing violates federal law allowing judges to appoint a U.S. attorney when an interim appointment expires without Senate confirmation. That lawsuit remains pending.

Serrano's own path to the nomination was indirect. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed him interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District in early August 2025. He served about four months under a 120-day clock. The appointment expired in early December 2025 after Trump did not formally nominate him, facing opposition from both of Washington's Democratic senators.

He remained in the Eastern District office in a senior role. Before entering federal service, Serrano founded the Silent Majority Foundation, a conservative nonprofit that has challenged Washington's gun restrictions and COVID-19 mandates. He also led the Franklin County Republican Party.

Trump has called the blue slip process old and outdated and threatened legal action to end it. No hearing date has been set. Washington's other U.S. senator, Maria Cantwell, has not issued a public statement on the nomination.