This sounds tawdry and, in view of the Constitution, slightly nutty:
In a little-noticed lawsuit filed last week, the America First Legal Foundation sued Chief Justice John Roberts and the head of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts.
The case ostensibly proceeds as a FOIA lawsuit, with the Trump-aligned group seeking access to judiciary records. But, in doing so, it asks the courts to cede massive power to the White House: the bodies that make court policy and manage the judiciary’s day-to-day operations should be considered independent agencies of the executive branch, the suit argues, giving the President, under the conservative legal movement’s theories, the power to appoint and dismiss people in key roles. [TPM]
This doesn’t make much sense, does it? I think what’s going on here is that an extremist right wing group that currently holds the White House wants to be rid of the Constitution, but it doesn’t just dare to declare the Constitution no longer applies. The Constitution is damn near holy writ for a large majority of the citizenry that covers a large portion of the political spectrum. Worse yet, given Republican gun control politics, that segment will be heavily armed, alarmed, and annoyed.
What’s the next best thing? Gut the Constitution. I see this lawsuit as an attempt to kill the Constitution without actually admitting they’re killing the Constitution. This is a perhaps subtle distinction from the article’s quoted experts:
These are all facets of an escalating campaign to erode the independence of the judiciary, experts told TPM. The lawsuit demonstrates another prong of it: close allies of the president are effectively asking the courts to rule that they should be managed by the White House.
Will the courts permit their self-dissolution? I’m sure at least one judge can be persuaded to agree, but I doubt SCOTUS would agree. Although Justices Alito and Thomas are alarmingly agreeable to the Trump Adminisration’s suits, there have been 9-0 decisions against Trump, and I suspect that’ll happen here.
But no doubt the reasoning is You don’t know ’til you try. This is a lawsuit to keep an eye on.
