State of MD to ask federal judge to rule Rosenstein as Acting AG, not Whitaker

[Roland99]

Link to tweet

[Cha]

1. KICK!

[Chemisse]

2. I'm glad somebody is doing this!

An illegal appointment should not just be allowed to stand.

[SimpleC]

3. Plans to act?

[In It to Win It]

4. More states should join in

[Buckeyeblue]

5. So do the states have standing to sue over cabinet appointments?

[TomSlick]

7. Yes, in this case (or at least I think so).

When the US is a party to litigation, it is in the name of the Attorney General. In this case, Jeff Sessions. What would normally happen when the AG leaves office, is the new AG is substituted as the named party as a simple administrative matter. The problem is that if the acting AG doesn't validly hold the office, there is no party. The concern is that any resolution of the cases, by judgment or settlement, would not be binding because the faux AG is not properly a party.

This could be a really big deal. The US has the largest number of cases pending in federal court. Some federal judge somewhere is going to rule that a case cannot proceed unless Rosenstein is named as the acting AG. If Trump does not fold, the US will simply lose the case.

It's a fine question that only a lawyer could love. That doesn't make it unimportant.

[watoos]

6. Every Democratic Congressman should be screaming for this.

The narrative shouldn't be that Whitaker must recuse himself but that Whitaker is an illegal appointee.
Step 1 before step 2.