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   From: jnn@nbc.com   
      
   Washington (CNN)A federal appeals court Friday severely limited   
   Congress' ability to enforce subpoenas it sends to the executive   
   branch, in a decision dismissing the US House of   
   Representatives' lawsuit to force former White House counsel Don   
   McGahn to testify.   
      
   In a 2-1 decision, the US Court of Appeals for the District of   
   Columbia Circuit ruled it didn't have the constitutional   
   authority to resolve the standoff between the House Judiciary   
   Committee and the White House.   
      
   "We cannot decide this case without declaring the actions of one   
   or the other [branches of government] unconstitutional,"   
   appellate Judge Thomas Griffith wrote in the opinion,   
   determining the federal judiciary should stay out of the fight   
   between Congress and the President. "If federal courts were to   
   swoop in to rescue Congress whenever its constitutional tools   
   failed, it would not just supplement the political process; it   
   would replace that process with one in which unelected judges   
   become the perpetual 'overseer[s]' of our elected officials.   
   That is not the role of judges in our democracy, and that is why   
   Article III compels us to dismiss this case."   
      
   The ruling is a major win for the Trump White House in its   
   attempts to block administration officials from testifying to   
   Congress.   
      
   If it withstands further appeals, the ruling also will have   
   lasting reverberations across the federal government when the   
   executive branch and Congress are at odds, as well as in the   
   court system in Washington, which hears most major separation-of-   
   powers disputes.   
      
   CNN legal contributor and law professor Stephen Vladeck said the   
   decision would have "the effect of tilting power increasingly in   
   favor of the recipients of such subpoenas, who can apparently   
   defy them with impunity," and narrows Congress' power.   
      
   A spokeswoman from the Justice Department, which argued the case   
   on McGahn's behalf, said in a statement Friday that the   
   department was "extremely pleased" with the ruling.   
      
   "Suits like this one are without precedent in our nation's   
   history and are inconsistent with the Constitution's design. The   
   D.C. Circuit's cogent opinion affirms this fundamental   
   principle," she said.   
      
   https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/28/politics/mcgahn-testimony-   
   ruling/index.html   
        
      
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