Second federal court judge rejects Justice Department request to swap-out lawyers

The judge overseeing the Maryland complaint on the case about the census question has rejected the U.S. Justice Department's request to swap out new lawyers.

According to court documents District Judge George Hazel made it clear "James Burnham, Garrett Coyle, Stephen Ehrilich, Courtney Enlow, Carol Federighi, Joshua Gardner, John Griffiths, Martin Tomlinson and Brett Shumate must all remain on counsel.

He said that he does agree that the attorney general has the authority to choose who shall "attend to the interest of the United States" but that a "change in counsel does not create a clean slate for a party to proceed as if prior representation made to the Court were not in fact made."

"The Court shares the concerns articulated in Judge Furman’s well-reasoned order denying Defendants’ parallel motion in the related New York case that a shift in counsel at this late stage may be disruptive to an already complicated and expedited case," he also said.

Read the full court filings here.