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Takket

(21,529 posts)
Thu Jul 31, 2014, 10:02 PM Jul 2014

Question about GOP suing Obama

So... like... how does this WORK? Is each side going to bring forward lawyers to argue whether the executive order regarding Obamacare is legal?

Who hears this case?

Would Obama be asked to testify? If so can he decline?

What if the GOP actually WINS? Does the executive order get nullified?

Nothing like this has ever been done before, so I'm curious what the rules are for a game that has never been played.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Question about GOP suing Obama (Original Post) Takket Jul 2014 OP
I watched Tom Hartmann and Mike Papantonio on a YouTube video and TxVietVet Jul 2014 #1
YouTube with Papantonio TxVietVet Jul 2014 #4
Prolly won't get past its first procedural hurdle, elleng Jul 2014 #2
There could be a Constitutional Crisis.... HooptieWagon Jul 2014 #3
some answers jberryhill Jul 2014 #5
Excelent post. Thanks. n/t Laelth Aug 2014 #8
This excellent post from my esteemed colleague should be bookmarked and then should be sent viral msanthrope Aug 2014 #9
Great post, thank you Takket Aug 2014 #10
I wouldn't say "giant" jberryhill Aug 2014 #11
What a collosal waste of... 3catwoman3 Aug 2014 #6
It doesn't. It is a John McShame suspending his campaign style political stunt TheKentuckian Aug 2014 #7

TxVietVet

(1,905 posts)
1. I watched Tom Hartmann and Mike Papantonio on a YouTube video and
Thu Jul 31, 2014, 10:05 PM
Jul 2014

Papantonio said Scalia said the GOP's lawsuit is dead on arrival.

elleng

(130,768 posts)
2. Prolly won't get past its first procedural hurdle,
Thu Jul 31, 2014, 10:08 PM
Jul 2014

which may be 'standing.' Have to have suffered a 'harm,' and they haven't.

 

HooptieWagon

(17,064 posts)
3. There could be a Constitutional Crisis....
Thu Jul 31, 2014, 10:13 PM
Jul 2014

... with all the judges dying of laughter. Could decimate the Judicial Branch.

 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
5. some answers
Thu Jul 31, 2014, 10:41 PM
Jul 2014

It would be filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia - the DC federal court. It wold be assigned to one of the judges of that court.

Those joining as plaintiffs would likely hire a DC law firm to represent them. The president would be represented by the White House Office of General Counsel which may, or may not, hire outside counsel.

After the Complaint is filed, there will be a preliminary hearing to set a schedule. After that, there will be a number of motions to dismiss filed by the White House. The plaintiffs will respond to these motions, and a hearing date will be set for arguing them.

During this time, several other things will happen. A parade of loons will file motions to join the case for various reasons, or at least will file briefs in support of the plaintiffs and ask the court to consider the arguments of putatively interested non-parties. Also, the plaintiffs will serve a number of discovery requests seeking to go fishing in the White House. The White House will not respond to these requests, arguing they are pointless until the motions to dismiss are heard and ruled upon. The plaintiffs will argue they need some discovery in order to address the motions to dismiss. A magistrate judge will be assigned to decide the discovery dispute, or at least to prepare a recommendation for the judge.

After all these fun & games, the motions to dismiss will be heard. The case will be dismissed for any or all of the grab bag of reasons for which it should obviously be dismissed - standing, political question, justiciability, and so on.

As to the "what can they win" question, the answer is pretty much a nothing burger even if they do win. The basis of their suit is a delay in the employer provisions of the ACA. The delay will actually be over by the time this case will come to a full parade rest, so the "remedy" will be moot at that time.

As far as a time line goes, you first have to appreciate that a federal official being sued in his or her official capacity has (and this is off the top of my head from FRCP Rule 4) I think 60 days to file an answer or motion to dismiss, from the time the suit is served. In other words, if the case were filed and served tomorrow, the motions to dismiss wouldn't be due until some time in October. If I recall correctly, the employer provisions were delayed until October. So it could easily become moot, in terms of any conceivable remedy, before an answer or motion to dismiss is actually due.

Some other procedural wrinkles are that the plaintiff can amend the complaint at least once without leave of court, just to keep the other side hopping. If they shoot for the moon, the case could be filed with a request for some sort of preliminary order on an expedited basis. That would be somewhat more amusing, because those sorts of motions are decided on a "quick look" basis to assess whether there is a serious ongoing harm and that the plaintiff has a strong likelihood of success down the road. That would at least give the plaintiffs something to run up through the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on the way to.the Supreme Court. That's even trickier since rulings on those kinds of filings are granted a higher degree of discretion with the district court from the get go.

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
9. This excellent post from my esteemed colleague should be bookmarked and then should be sent viral
Fri Aug 1, 2014, 06:36 AM
Aug 2014

through the world.

I cannot wait to read the amici curiae in this matter.

Takket

(21,529 posts)
10. Great post, thank you
Fri Aug 1, 2014, 07:23 AM
Aug 2014

So as expected, to summerize your post, it is a giant time and taxpayer dollars wasting useless clusterfuck. That about right?

 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
11. I wouldn't say "giant"
Fri Aug 1, 2014, 08:24 AM
Aug 2014

But under the best of circumstances, litigation is like watching paint dry.

Unless they hire Orly Taitz. Nobody brings the crazy like.she does.

TheKentuckian

(25,020 posts)
7. It doesn't. It is a John McShame suspending his campaign style political stunt
Fri Aug 1, 2014, 01:57 AM
Aug 2014

In lieu of actually doing anything in thin pretense they are at least doing what they promised the rubes that they knew was unmitigated bullshit.

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