The State of Maryland will file for an injunction with Judge Ellen L. Hollander of the Federal District Court for the District of Maryland later this morning to prevent the elevation of the wannabe television pitchman Matthew G. Whitaker on the grounds of...well...you just can’t do that.
“The State of Maryland is expected to ask a federal judge on Tuesday for an injunction declaring that Mr. Whitaker is not the legitimate acting attorney general as a matter of law, and that the position — and all its powers — instead rightfully belongs to the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein.
Mr. Trump may not “bypass the constitutional and statutory requirements for appointing someone to that office,” the plaintiffs said in a draft filing obtained by The New York Times.
The legal action escalates the uproar surrounding Mr. Trump’s installation of Mr. Whitaker as the nation’s top law-enforcement officer, from criticism of his basic credentials and his views on the Russia investigation to challenges to the legality of his appointment. Last week, Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate’s top Democrat, sent a letter demanding to know why Mr. Trump chose an “unconfirmed political appointee” as acting attorney general, rather than follow the Justice Department’s statutory line of succession.”
Maryland is filing for the injunction because it is in the process of suing Jeff Sessions in an unrelated Obamacare case and means to prevent Whitaker, who is on record saying the 2012 Supreme Court ruling upholding the legality of the ACA “one of the worst rulings in SCOTUS history.”
But, moreover, this sh** just ain’t legal….
“In defending Mr. Whitaker’s appointment as lawful, the Trump administration has pointed to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a 1998 statute. It says that a president may temporarily fill a vacancy for a position that normally requires Senate confirmation with any senior official who has been in the department for at least 90 days. As Mr. Sessions’s former chief of staff, Mr. Whitaker meets that criteria.
But Maryland’s court filing argues that the law applies to routine positions, not to the attorney general. For one thing, it noted, another statute specifically says the deputy attorney general is next in line at the Justice Department. A more specific law, the lawsuit argues, takes precedence when in a conflict with a more general law.”
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, especially if it eventually ends up in front of Chief Justice John Roberts and the rest of the Supremes, as Roberts was the deciding vote for the 2012 Obama decision Whitaker dissed so thoroughly.
Whitaker may yet realize his destiny to take over for the disgraced Sham Wow guy... a position better suited to his talents.