Though successfully blocked from the Supreme Court, D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland could still come back to haunt President Donald Trump when it comes to deregulation policies, Politico reported.
Trump's vow to roll back two regulations for every new one issued is not unlike former President Ronald Reagan's initiative to do the same in the 1980s, something that caught the eye of Garland.
Garland in 1985 penned an article for Harvard Law Review that pushed back on attempts to roll back regulations, a warning call to the courts that is still cited today by those who disfavor deregulation, Politico reported.
And Trump's challenged policies at the agency level would first undergo scrutiny in the D.C. circuit.
"That's why the D.C. circuit is commonly referred to as the second-most important court in the country," Jack Quinn, a White House counsel under former President Bill Clinton, told Politico. "It's where the vast bulk of cases involving agency action are taken up."
Garland returned to his work on the D.C. circuit in February after his stunted candidacy for the Supreme Court. Neil Gorsuch on Monday was sworn in as the new chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Garland has been chief judge of the D.C. Circuit since 2013 and his term comes up in 2020.
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