1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Full D.C. Circuit to Consider Whether Committees Can Enforce Congressional Subpoenas in Court March 25, 2020 Although legal disputes between the executive and legislative branches of the federal governmen
2、t periodically lead to litigation, federal courts sometimes hesitate to adjudicate such disputes because deciding whether a coordinate branch of government has broken the law can implicate separation-of-powers principles. For example, a panel of three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Dist
3、rict of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) held in February that the House Committee on the Judiciary (Committee) lacked standing to bring a federal lawsuit to enforce a congressional subpoena against former White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn, II. Shortly thereafter, however, the Committee successful
4、ly persuaded the D.C. Circuit to vacate the panels judgment and rehear the case en banc, which means all of the active judges of the court who are not recused will rehear the case. The en banc courts decision could affect whetherand under what circumstancescongressional entities may file lawsuits se
