Public Citizen, Inc. v. Trump

The federal district court for the District of Columbia ruled that the plaintiffs challenging President Trump’s “two for one” executive order had not established standing. The executive order was issued in January 2017 and directed, among other things, that federal agencies identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed for every new regulation promulgated and offset any new incremental cost of a new regulation by eliminating costs associated with at least two prior regulations. The district court—which previously allowed limited discovery to address deficiencies in the plaintiffs’ standing allegations—found that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that either the executive order itself or related guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget caused the delay in the finalizing of two regulations identified by the plaintiffs: a federal motor vehicle safety standard for vehicle-to-vehicle accident avoidance communications and an energy efficiency standard for commercial water heating equipment. The court cited interrogatory responses of federal officials that supplied reasons for the delays and said the plaintiffs failed to point to evidence to contradict these responses. The court also rejected the plaintiffs’ contention that they should be found to have standing because the executive order was certain to increase delay in the future.

The federal district court for the District of Columbia denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s “Two-for-One” executive order, but also denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on the issue of standing. In denying the motion to dismiss for lack of standing, the court found that the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged that the order—which requires agencies to identify two regulations for potential repeal for every new proposed regulation—had delayed issuance of a regulation and that the delay would likely cause harm to at least one of the plaintiff organizations’ members that could be redressed by invalidation of the order. In denying the motion for partial summary judgment, the court found that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate associational standing as a matter of undisputed material fact with respect to any of the five regulatory measures that the plaintiffs contended had been delayed due to the order, including efficiency standards for cooking products and water heaters. The court also found that the plaintiffs failed to establish organizational standing based on the executive order’s undermining of their ability to advocate for health and safety, consumer protection, the environment, and improved working conditions. The court said the case “currently sits in a liminal state” since it cannot not consider the merits without determining that it had jurisdiction. The court planned to hold a status conference to discuss next steps.

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