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Three Democrat Senators filed a lawsuit in a federal court on Monday to challenge the constitutionality of President Trump's appointment of Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney General.
Trump appointed Whitaker to head the Justice Department after Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to leave his post earlier this month.
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono filed a complaint against Whitaker on Monday in the US District Court of the District of Columbia. All three make inflammatory statements.
"The installation of Matthew Whitaker so flagrantly defies the constitutional right that any viewer of School House Rock would recognize. The Americans are giving a price to a system of checks and balances, which betrays the dictatorial appointment of President Trump, "Blumenthal said.
"The stakes are too great to allow the president to install an unconfirmed lackey to run the Justice Department – a lackey whose stated goal is apparently to undermine an important investigation into the president," Whitehouse said.
"Donald Trump can not overthrow the Constitution to protect himself and escape responsibility," said Hirono.
Senators argue that Whitaker's appointment contravenes the constitutional clause on appointments. They are asking the federal court to declare Whitaker's appointment unconstitutional and prevent him from performing his duties.
But the Department of Justice maintains that the appointment is legal. DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said on Monday that the appointment was "legal" and in line with the federal law on vacancy reform, the US Constitution's appointment clause, the Supreme Court's case law , the previous opinions of the Ministry of Justice and the past acts of the Republican and Democratic Presidents.
"There are more than 160 cases in American history in which unconfirmed people in the Senate have, on a temporary basis, held the positions of a position confirmed by the Senate," Kupec said. "To suggest the opposite, is to ignore centuries of practice and precedents."
Last week, the Office of the Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice gave a favorable opinion on the appointment of Whitaker.
DOJ SAYS MATTHEW WHITAKER CAN SERVE AS SUPPLEMENTING ATTORNEY GENERAL
"This office had previously indicated that the president could appoint a senior justice official, such as Mr. Whitaker, as acting Attorney General," said the COL, noting that Whitaker was working for the Department of Justice "At a sufficiently high salary. level for over a year.
Others have sued as a result of Whitaker's appointment, including in the state of Maryland.
For more than a year, Trump repeatedly criticized Sessions for disqualifying him after the investigation into Russia, saying he would not have installed him as top police official in the country if he knew his prosecutor would refrain from the investigation in Russia.
Democrats have expressed concern that change within the DOJ could mean for the investigation of Russia. The Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Said: "Protecting Mueller and his investigation is paramount".
Other Democrats have called Whitaker to withdraw from the investigation over Russia because of his past comments expressing his skepticism about the scope and relevance of this investigation.
Democratic Senators are represented by two nonprofit law firms in this case: Protect Democracy and the Constitutional Accountability Center.
Jake Gibson, Brooke Singman, Paige Dukeman and Bill Mears of Fox News contributed to this report.
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