Lawsuit against Trump filed

[Benton]

(01-24-2017, 10:11 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Obama did, too. Or maybe Boehner dropped it, I can't remember the details now.

Regardless, the concept being thought of here is known as sovereign immunity. The sovereign, in the case of the US, is the federal government. A suit can be brought against an official because they are not the government/sovereign. So, for instance, in this scenario the case is brought against President Donald J. Trump, but it is not brought against the Office of the President of the United States. There is a difference there that distinguishes whether the suit would fall under sovereign immunity or not.

Now, the government can waive sovereign immunity. Much like executive privilege, sometimes it is more politically advantageous to do so and have the battle fought in the courts where all is laid out on the table. But this case would not fall under sovereign immunity, anyway.

Completely forgot about that. Sued on behalf of Congress over not implementing Obamacare. Or something along those lines. Googled it and nothing came up outside of 2015 when courts agreed to hear the suit.

And correct on the rest. The courts already decided you can't sue the president for damages caused by being president (if he bombs your country or his motorcade makes you lose business, that's part of it). But you can still sue the guy for actions outside of those created by the office. I imagine, though, that if the case goes before a judge, his attorney will argue sovereign immunity extends to emoluments. Which should be enough to take it to the SCOTUS, which helps keep the issue tabled long enough to get through a first term.