Arizona v. San Francisco (20-1775)
argument 20-1775Arizona v. San Francisco
Supreme Court of the United States
1h 21m
8 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 6 days ago
official recording ↗
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the central dispute over the public‑charge rule in Arizona v. San Francisco?
We will hear argument this morning in Case 2017-75, Arizona v. San Francisco. General Brnovich.
Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court, the Ninth Circuit's refusal to let Arizona and other states intervene to defend the public charge rule capped an unprecedented effort by the United States to unlawfully disregard a prior administration's rule. The Department of Justice had spent more than a year successfully fighting the rule's challengers in four different circuits. Every injunction against the rule had been stayed, and this very Court had granted certiorari. But the new Biden administration suddenly abandoned its defense of the rule. It coordinated with the rule's challengers and dismissed the granted petition by this court. All of the pending appeals in the lower courts as well, and it left one final nationwide injunction against the rule in place.
Based only on that, the Biden administration rescinded the rule without notice and comment rulemaking. Within days of these legal maneuvers, Arizona and other states tried to intervene in every district or every circuit court to defend the rule. In the case below, the Ninth Circuit denied intervention without any reasoning. That was error. The petitioners had satisfied all four requirements for intervention as a matter of right and easily cleared the bar for permissive intervention. Arizona has a protectable interest because the rule saved the states collectively more than a billion dollars per year. This case could impair those interests because a decision against the rule would reimpose those costs on the states.
Fixing this error, not just for Arizona, but also to ensure this case does not become a blueprint for evading the APA in the future. The public charge rule is enacted through notice and comment rulemaking. Therefore, notice and commenting rulemaking is required to rescind or replace it. Making clear the states can intervene in these circumstances is the only way to ensure future administrations follow the APA. I look forward to your questions.
Would you explain why you have standing to challenge the Ninth Circuit's preliminary injunction in this case?
Well, Your Honor, the states, even by the Department of Justice's own brief, acknowledges that the states are impacted fiscally by way of more than a billion dollars. Furthermore, we know that in future APA cases, the states have an interest in ensuring that we have the ability to comment on future rules and proposed rules and not reward behavior in this type of case. But
did you comment on the... This rule or on the replacement rule?
Your Honor, the Department of Justice had just announced a new proposed rule, and ironically, even in that proposal, they noted that the states would be affected by more than a billion and a half dollars. We have commented on previous rules. We do believe the primary issue here goes back to whether the states timely moved to intervene, which we did, whether there is an interest, which there is. Even the responded states recognize that all of us have an interest.
But one final question, then. What makes this case different from any other case? I mean, when administrations change, I think this is my fifth administration change, and the new administration often changes its position in cases. So what's the difference from this case in which the administration declines to appeal an adverse ruling?
Justice Thomas, this was an unprecedented legal maneuver. What the Department of Justice did here when the administration changed is literally not only dropped an appeal when this very court had granted certiorari, but then simultaneously dismissed four of their appeals in the circuit courts that were pending before the circuit courts, left in place one judgment in the Northern District of Illinois, and then used that district court decision to rescind a rule without going through the proper notice and rule commenting. And so it is really unprecedented. Frankly, I'm not aware of any other precedent where you have these types of maneuvers.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central dispute over the public‑charge rule in Arizona v. San Francisco?
0:00–11:21
2
How does the Department of Justice’s change of administration affect the rule‑making and litigation?
11:21–21:33
3
Why do the petitioning states argue they have a protectable financial interest in the rule?
21:33–29:30
4
What is the role of the Administrative Procedure Act and notice‑and‑comment requirements in this case?
29:30–41:14
5
How does the concept of “Munsingware” (vacatur) factor into the states’ intervention request?
41:14–50:29
6
What are the arguments about the Ninth Circuit’s preliminary injunction and its practical effect?
50:29–59:49
7
How do the parties interpret Rule 24 and the standards for intervention as a matter of right?
59:49–1:10:23
8
What conclusions does the Court reach about whether the Ninth Circuit erred in denying intervention?
1:10:23–1:21:05