⁍ Senator Jon Tester of Montana introduced a bill Wednesday to bar the Department of Justice from appealing a court ruling.
⁍ The September ruling says the administration has violated the appointment clause of the U.S. Constitution.
⁍ The administration illegally kept William Pendley for 424 days at the helm of the BLM rather than appointing a U.S. Senate-confirmed official.
– Sen. Jon Tester has introduced a bill that would prevent the Trump administration from appealing a federal court ruling that forbids a deputy director at the US Bureau of Land Management from continuing to unlawfully exercise the authority of the BLM director, Westlaw Today reports. In September, a federal court ruled that William Pendley, who was appointed acting director of the BLM in May by President Obama, was illegally keeping his post for 424 days without being confirmed by the Senate, violating the appointment clause of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and the US Constitution. The Trump administration has vowed to appeal the ruling, but Tester’s bill would bar the Department of Justice from asking a federal court of appeal to review it.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-environment-lawsuit/showdown-at-the-blm-corral-montana-senator-fires-out-bill-to-oust-director-pendley-idUSL1N2HC2SW