Latest Case: Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives v. McGahn (Constitutional Law)

Economic Theory Shows that People Will Make Choices that Worsen the Pandemic

NEIL H. BUCHANAN

UF Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan points out some of the ways in which congressional Republicans misunderstand economics to justify withholding unemployment payments from Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Buchanan argues that economic theory soundly demonstrates that given the opportunity, people will make choices that worsen the toll of the pandemic.

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Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives v. McGahn

Docket: 19-5331

Opinion Date: August 7, 2020

Judge: Judith Ann Wilson Rogers

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Government & Administrative Law

On petition for rehearing en banc, the en banc court held that the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives has standing under Article III of the Constitution to seek judicial enforcement of its duly issued subpoena. This case arose when the Committee began an investigation into alleged misconduct by President Trump and his close advisors. The Committee requested that Donald F. McGahn, II turn over documents related to the President's alleged obstruction of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller's investigation. When McGahn, then no longer White House Counsel, declined these requests, the Committee issued a subpoena ordering McGahn to appear at a hearing to testify and to produce the requested documents. The en banc court held that the Committee, acting on behalf of the full House of Representatives, has shown that it suffers a concrete and particularized injury when denied the opportunity to obtain information necessary to the legislative, oversight, and impeachment functions of the House, and that its injury would be redressed by the order it seeks from the court. The court explained that the ordinary and effective functioning of the Legislative Branch critically depends on the legislative prerogative to obtain information, and constitutional structure and historical practice support judicial enforcement of congressional subpoenas when necessary. Therefore, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court in part.