The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will rehear arguments in two Trump administration cases over a House subpoena to White House counsel Don McGahn and funding for a southern border wall.
The court vacated previous rulings in both cases on Friday, according to Politico. Arguments for each are scheduled for April 28 in front of the full D.C. Circuit.
House lawmakers petitioned the court last week to revisit a lawsuit to force McGahn through subpoena to testify to Congress. A divided three-judge panel ruled on Feb. 28 that the Judiciary could not decide what amounted to a political debate between two coequal branches of government.
The ruling was a major victory for President Trump. The House subpoenaed McGahn last night while investigating Trump on impeachment charges related to his foreign policy with Ukraine. Trump claimed executive privilege over McGahn’s testimony, resulting in the House lawsuit.
Last year, Democratic lawmakers accused the president of withholding military aid from Ukraine to secure investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The House impeached the president in December on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, with the second charge based, in part, on Trump’s claim of executive privilege over McGahn’s testimony.
The second case due to be reheard by the D.C. Circuit is over whether Congress can sue to block the Trump administration from diverting unspent military construction funding toward building a wall on the United States-Mexico border. Trump declared a national emergency last year and diverted $3.6 billion toward border wall construction, and the court approved Trump’s action in January after House lawmakers sued. The president plans to divert an additional $7.2 billion in 2020.
