Attorney General Frosh Files Motion Challenging the Appointment of Whitaker as Acting Attorney General

BALTIMORE, MD (November 13, 2018) - Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today filed a motionchallenging the appointment of Matthew G. Whitaker as Acting Attorney General in the State’s lawsuit,Maryland v. U.S. et al., which seeks to uphold the Affordable Care Act’s protection of people with preexisting conditions and other key provisions. In his motion, Attorney General Frosh argues that President Trump’s appointment of Whitaker is illegal and unconstitutional, and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein must be named Acting Attorney General in his stead. Attorney General Frosh asks the Court to declare Rosenstein Acting Attorney General and to recognize his authority to represent the United States in this case.

“The Constitution and Congress have established vitally important processes for filling high-level vacancies in the federal government,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Few positions are more critical than that of U.S. Attorney General, an office that wields enormous enforcement power and authority over the lives of all Americans. President Trump’s brazen attempt to flout the law and Constitution in bypassing Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rosenstein in favor of a partisan and unqualified staffer cannot stand.”

Read more in the full press release:http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2018/111318.pdf