A federal judge asked the Michigan Supreme Court Thursday to clarify whether Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has the authority to continue issuing or renewing executive orders …
A federal judge asked the Michigan Supreme Court Thursday to clarify whether Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has the authority to continue issuing or renewing executive orders under either of the two state laws that govern her emergency powers.
The request came on the same day that Whitmer extended Michigan’s state of emergency through July 16.
The judge’s order stems from a federal lawsuit by a Grand Rapids medical center filed against Whitmer’s order banning non-essential procedures, but the root questions raised by U. S. District Judge Paul Maloney closely mirror those argued by the Michigan Legislature.
The federal and state lawsuits are seeking answers to whether state law allowed for the governor’s emergency powers to continue after April 30, even without legislative approvals, and whether the emergency laws giving Whitmer virtually limitless authority violate the separation of powers between the governor and Legislature in Michigan’s Constitution?
The Legislature and Whitmer, in a separate lawsuit, recently tried to bypass the Michigan Court of Appeals and get the state’s high court to address similar questions regarding the governor’s emergency powers. But in a 4-3 vote, the justices rejected the request and sent the case first to the Court of Appeals where oral arguments are set to begin in August.
Maloney’s Thursday opinion certifies the two questions to the Michigan Supreme Court, which can rule on the questions or ignore them.
