Abeyance:
- :a state of temporary inactivity :suspension —used chiefly in the phrase in abeyance
• … new contracts on all but one existing mine … are in abeyance pending the outcome of a government inquiry to be carried out into Australia’s role in the nuclear fuel cycle. —Vimala Sarma
a plan that is currently being held in abeyance- :a lapse in succession during which there is no person in whom a title is vested • an estate in abeyance
[Merriam-Webster]
Noted in “The nation’s ‘top lawyer’ has no idea how executive privilege works,” Kerry Eleveld, The Daily Kos:
The [Reagan] memo does allow for a period of “abeyance” in which a president can weigh whether she or he wants to actually invoke the privilege. In Sessions world, that apparently means he can suspend congressional inquiry in perpetuity until such time as Trump manages to wrap his mind around the legal questions at hand—which, let’s face it, could take a very long while.
