Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Matthew Whitaker's appointment as acting AG

On Monday, the Supreme Court said it would not hear a challenge to President Donald Trump's appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general.

What are the details?

After the resignation of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in November, Trump appointed Sessions' former chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, to stand in as acting attorney general.

Senate Democrats filed a formal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming that Whitaker's appointment was "unlawful."

Acting Cabinet members can legally remain in their roles for up to 201 days without being nominated for Senate approval.

The challenge that the Supreme Court rejected Monday was unrelated to the one Democrats had filed. Instead, it involved a pending case on the possession of firearms by felons. After Sessions resigned, the name of this case was changed from Michaels v. Sessions to Barry Michaels v. Whitaker.

Lawyer Tom Goldstein, who worked for the petitioner on this case, asked the court to change the name of the case to Michaels v. Rosenstein, for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Goldstein's motion argued that Whitaker's appointment was illegal because it lacked Senate confirmation, citing a law that states that the deputy attorney general takes over in the absence of an attorney general.

"We do want Rosenstein named Acting Attorney General," Goldstein said, according to CNN. "But we say to the court, even if we're wrong, it sure would be better for everybody to know the answer to that because this has turned into a mess."

What else?

The Supreme Court rejected this and refused to hear the gun case altogether. An explanation for the refusal to hear the challenge to Whitaker's appointment was not immediately available.

The complaint filed by Senate Democrats is still pending.

Trump nominated William Barr, who previously served as attorney general under former President George H.W. Bush, to take over the role of attorney general from Whitaker and will need Senate confirmation. Rosenstein has said that he will step down as deputy attorney general once Barr is confirmed.