Undeterred by the Fifth Circuit’s rejection of their request to intervene in U.S. Chamber Commerce v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor, the States of California, New York, and Oregon moved for reconsideration in the Fifth Circuit today. The States request that the three-judge panel who heard the appeal reconsider their denial of the States’ petition to intervene or, at a minimum, refer the question of intervention to the entire Fifth Circuit for a rehearing en banc. The States previously requested a rehearing en banc, which the court rejected as improper because the States are technically not parties to the appeal. The States’ motion notes that the business groups that filed the action against the DOL will oppose their request and that the Department of Justice, on behalf of the DOL, takes no position on it.
It remains to be seen how the panel addresses the request, but for the reasons discussed in our prior blog post, the States face an uphill battle. It is unlikely that the panel will reconsider its prior ruling and allow the States to intervene because the States have not presented any new lines of evidence or argument that were unavailable to them when they made their original request to intervene. While a 2-1 decision on a significant issue always raises the possibility of a rehearing en banc, the relative weakness of the States’ arguments regarding intervention may lead the panel to conclude, even in a 2-1 vote, that the issue is not worth the entire Fifth Circuit’s time.