Whitaker’s appointment challenged

WASHINGTON — Maryland is challenging the appointment of Matthew Whitaker as the new U.S. acting attorney general, arguing that President Trump sidestepped the Constitution and the Justice Department’s own succession plan by elevating Whitaker to the top job.

The Tuesday filing sets up a court challenge between a state and the federal government over the legitimacy of the country’s chief law enforcement officer and foreshadows the likelihood of additional cases that present the same issues.

It comes as Democrats call on Whitaker to recuse himself from overseeing the special counsel’s Russia investigation because of critical comments he has made on the probe and amid concerns over his views on the scope of judicial authority.

In their filing, lawyers in the office of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh argue that the job should have gone to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein instead of to Whitaker.

They cite a statute governing the line of succession at the Justice Department that says that in the case of a vacancy in the attorney general position, the deputy attorney general may exercise “all the duties of that office.” If neither is available for the job, according to that statute, then the associate attorney general is supposed to be elevated.

Beyond that, the lawyers say, the Constitution requires the duties of the attorney general to be carried out only by someone with Senate confirmation.