The Supreme Court threw out Democratic lawmakers’ lawsuit seeking to compel an executive agency to disclose records relating to the Trump hotel formerly located in the Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C.
Though the Supreme Court agreed in May to hear the case, which questioned whether individual members of Congress can sue executive agencies to compel records disclosures, Democrats voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit in a June 7 filing. In an unsigned order Monday, the Supreme Court tossed the case.
The case, Carnahan v. Maloney, stems from a 2017 lawsuit Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee filed against the General Services Administration (GSA) for the release of information related to the Trump hotel lease agreement based on their concerns about a conflict of interest. (RELATED: Supreme Court Will Decide If The Government Can Tax Income You Haven’t Received Yet)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 26: An exterior view of the entrance to the new Trump International Hotel at the old post office on October 26, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will attend the hotel’s grand opening. (Photo by Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images)
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice had appealed the case to the Supreme Court after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of the lawmakers, finding the lawmakers had the ability to sue under a 1928 law known as the seven-member rule.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar called the lawmakers’ challenge “a stark departure from fundamental separation-of-powers principles” in her brief opposing the lower court decision.
“Until now, Congress and the Executive have resolved such disputes through negotiation and compromise, but the decision below threatens to replace that process of political accommodation with a system of litigation and judicial decree,” Prelogar wrote.
The GSA and lawmakers both filed briefs in June asking the Supreme Court to vacate the court of appeals’ judgement in light of the lawmakers’ voluntary termination of the lawsuit, which the GSA wrote “render[s] this case moot.”
Only five of the 17 original members who filed remained on the lawsuit, according to the Department of Justice’s February brief.
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