US Supreme Court to Hear Case on Democrats’ Lawsuit Seeking Government Documents on Trump Hotel
The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on whether individual Democratic members of Congress can pursue a lawsuit seeking government documents related to the former Trump International Hotel in Washington.[0] The case arose from a 2013 decision by the General Services Administration to lease the Old Post Office Building in Washington, D.C., for conversion into the Trump International Hotel.[1] The Biden administration has made an appeal to the Supreme Court, contending that the lower court's decision to allow members of Congress to sue a federal agency for not providing requested information under Section 2954 contradicts the Supreme Court's prior rulings and goes against longstanding historical practices that date back to the founding of the country. This case brings up inquiries regarding the circumstances in which individual members of Congress, rather than an entire committee, possess the lawful authority to initiate a lawsuit against an executive agency for access to documents under Section 2954 of the federal law.
To obtain documents, Democrats utilized the “Seven Member Rule,” a federal law that permits either five members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee or seven members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability to request information from executive agencies that falls within their jurisdiction. The district court initially dismissed the lawsuit, finding the lawmakers lacked the legal standing to sue. However, the federal appeals court in Washington, with a split panel of judges, overturned the decision and reignited the dispute by recognizing the Democrats' right to bring the lawsuit.[2] The case was not considered again by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The members of the Democratic party contended that the agency had breached the law by declining to furnish them with information.[3]
Continuing from the Trump administration, the Biden administration has taken a stand against the lawsuit.[4] At first, the Trump administration refused to hand over the documents, but the Biden administration argues that if the Democrats win their case, it may lead to numerous distractions for the current president.[4] “A congressional minority – ‘or even an ideological fringe of the minority' – could bring cases to ‘distract and harass executive agencies and their most senior officials,'” the Biden administration told the Supreme Court in November, opposing the appeal.[5] In the event that the Democrats emerge victorious, minority lawmakers may be empowered to scrutinize a president's conduct without the requisite votes to authorize a subpoena.
The crux of the matter revolves around a 95-year-old federal statute colloquially referred to as the “seven-member rule,” which empowers any group of seven members of the House Oversight Committee to request documents from any federal government entity. The “seven-member rule” allows House or Senate oversight committees to request and obtain information from government agencies with the approval of seven or more members, even if they do not make up a majority. This case brings up inquiries regarding the circumstances in which individual members of Congress, rather than an entire committee, possess the lawful authority to initiate a lawsuit against an executive agency for access to documents under Section 2954 of the federal law. Should the Democrat lawmakers receive a favorable ruling from SCOTUS, Congress will be granted increased authority to investigate a sitting president without requiring the necessary votes for a subpoena. Due to the frequent close divisions in Congress, it is uncommon for a president to be subpoenaed, with only a few instances occurring throughout the history of the United States.[4]
0. “Supreme Court to take up Trump DC hotel dispute” msnNOW, 15 May. 2023, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/supreme-court-to-take-up-trump-dc-hotel-dispute/ar-AA1bd7XY?li=BBnbcA1
1. “Supreme Court will hear a subpoena case that — surprise — Trump and Biden agree on” WMKY, 15 May. 2023, https://www.wmky.org/npr-news/2023-05-15/supreme-court-will-hear-a-subpoena-case-that-surprise-trump-and-biden-agree-on
2. “Supreme Court to consider House Democrats' quest for records related to Trump's D.C. hotel” CBS News, 15 May. 2023, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-trump-hotel-house-democrats-oversight-committee-records/
3. “Supreme Court to review House oversight lawsuit from 2017” Brunswick News, 15 May. 2023, https://thebrunswicknews.com/news/national_news/supreme-court-to-review-house-oversight-lawsuit-from-2017/article_998ec16c-0911-51b3-b0a0-cc2ca5d3c348.html
4. “Supreme Court Trump Case Pits Biden Against Democrats” Newsweek, 15 May. 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-trump-case-biden-democrats-1800430
5. “Checking in? Supreme Court wades into fight between Democrats, Trump over divisive hotel” Yahoo News Canada, 15 May. 2023, https://ca.news.yahoo.com/checking-supreme-court-wades-fight-134323331.html
