Joe Palmore spoke to The National Law Journal for an article covering how the Biden administration could move to undo Trump administration policies involving immigration, labor, and more, which could be complicated by the fact that there's unlikely to be a Senate-confirmed solicitor general (SG) on day one.
Joe spoke about the Affordable Care Act, noting that it's harder and more complicated to change litigation positions after a case has already been argued.
"I supposed the SG could send a letter withdrawing the government's brief," he said. "I'm not aware of precedent if the SG wanted to do more than that. If the SG wanted to file a new brief, he or she would have to get permission from the court."
Joe also discussed the Trump administration's so-called "remain in Mexico" policy, noting that where an agency rule or regulation is involved, the least disruptive tactic from the office's perspective is "to have something to cite, an actual operative document or action from the relevant agency to cite for either changing a position or pausing a case. If the agency makes an announcement quickly they are reconsidering action relevant to a pending court case, the SG can notify the court and ask that case be paused."
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