I’m listening to the oral arguments of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit discussing the cases of the House trying to enforce their subpoenas through a lawsuit.
The Trump administration lawyer is arguing that the House can subpoena, but enforcement of it is only the power of the executive branch (thus an Article III court isn’t the avenue for that).
When the subpoena is against the chief executive, I can’t concur with that view. There should be an independent way to enforce it.
The argument now is that the only power the Congress has when the Chief Executive exceeds his authority is to pass a law (which must be signed by the Chief Executive) to say he can’t exceed his authority.
The argument is only private parties who are injured by the Chief Executive’s abuse can sue. But, if I feel that I am injured by the Chief Executive’s failure to enforce the subpoena because it impacts my ability to cast an informed ballot or for my representative to cast an informed vote for or against impeachment, I have no doubt that would be dismissed for lack of standing.
The judge is now asking my question — who would be the private party that would have standing to sue in this case?
Sigh.
Leave a Reply