Judge Rebukes DOJ, Says U.S. ‘Laughable’ for Using Shutdown to Delay Suit

A U.S. judge overseeing a veteran’s multimillion-dollar negligence lawsuit in Puerto Rico rebuked the Justice Department for attempting to use the partial government shutdown to put the case on hold, calling the request “laughable,” according to a Bloomberg Law report.

Bloomberg’s Erik Larson writes: “In a ruling denying the government’s bid for more time, U.S. District Judge William G. Young said lapses in federal appropriations, like the current one triggered by President Donald Trump’s demand for funding for a border wall with Mexico, aren’t a government ‘policy’ that could theoretically justify staying such a lawsuit.”

The judge decried “an abdication by the president and the Congress” of the duty to govern responsibly.

Read the Bloomberg Law report.