{"id":720,"date":"2026-05-30T04:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=720"},"modified":"2026-05-30T04:42:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:42:25","slug":"take-better-care-judge-reminds-blundering-trump-lawyers-how-to-count","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=720","title":{"rendered":"‘Take better care’: Judge reminds blundering Trump lawyers how to count"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Judges often must step in to correct attorneys on issues of court procedure and protocol. It\u2019s likely more frequent when the attorney is young and inexperienced. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s \u2018White Trash Nation\u2019 torn apart by conservative<\/a><\/p>\n

But President Donald Trump\u2019s federal attorneys \u2014 or at least what\u2019s left of them \u2014 are a cut above.<\/p>\n

Politico reporter Josh Gerstein made note of U.S. District Court Judge Laura Provinzino\u2019s Friday schooling of U.S. Dept. of Agriculture attorneys\u2019 surprising snafu.<\/p>\n

Last December, the state of Minnesota sued the Trump administration over its demand that the state interview in person more than 100,000 households \u2014 constituting approximately 191,000 people \u2014 that receive SNAP benefits to verify their eligibility for the program. The Trump administration threatened to cut off Minnesota\u2019s SNAP funding and disqualify it from SNAP altogether unless Minnesota complies with the impossible demands, which AG Keith Ellison argues are \u201cprohibited under federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April, USDA lawyers moved to dismiss Minnesota\u2019s amended complaint, but one mistake in the federal filing was so grievous the judge had to step in with a basic law school education.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe USDA\u2019s opening memorandum was 45 pages long and used 11,769 words,\u201d Judge Provinzino pointed out. But under law, she said \u201cno brief may exceed 12,000 words.\u201d Worse, other laws dictate that if a party intends to file both an opening brief and reply brief, the combined briefs may not exceed 12,000 words. <\/p>\n

\u201cSince the USDA\u2019s opening brief was 11,769 words, it left itself only 231 words for a reply,\u201d the judge pointed out.<\/p>\n

Read more Exasperated judge smacks DOJ lawyer\u2019s defense of Trump\u2019s behavior<\/a><\/p>\n

Federal attorneys realized their blunder after filing and returned with a clean up request that the judge grant them and additional 5,769 additional words for its reply brief. Federal attorneys pleaded that \u201can extension is necessary because Minnesota\u2019s responsive brief raised issues to which the USDA ought to have a right to fully respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellison\u2019s office objected to the request, arguing that granting this would give the USDA \u201csignificantly more words than Minnesota was provided,\u201d and that Minnesota had to make \u201chard choices\u201d to meet its own word count requirement. The USDA, his office argued, does not deserve additional words \u201csimply because it chose not to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not Team Trump\u2019s first example of courtroom cringe. Trumps field of lawyers are catching plenty of criticism these days for their lack of experience as Trump\u2019s department prizes MAGA credentials over knowledge or knack. Worse, after so many attorney\u2019s fled Trump\u2019s politicized DOJ and agencies, departments have been scrambling to hire noobs to fill the vacated ranks \u2014 leaving plenty of ignorance for legal flubs, snafus and courtroom goofs.<\/p>\n

Provinzino refused to grant USDA lawyers their 6,000-word request, instead allotting them half that amount.<\/p>\n

She tapered her generosity with harsh finger-wagging, however: \u201cIt is simply implausible that the USDA did not anticipate filing a reply brief in this case. It nevertheless chose to leave itself only 231 words to do so. \u2026 [T]he USDA chose to wait until after Minnesota had already filed its responsive brief that \u2014 by Minnesota\u2019s admission \u2014 required Minnesota to cut arguments it would have made with more words.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo put it bluntly, the USDA should take better care to make its case efficiently,\u201d the judge chided.<\/p>\n

Read more American culture is \u2018throwing up all over\u2019 sundowning Trump: analyst<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judges often must step in to correct attorneys on issues of court procedure and protocol. It\u2019s likely more frequent when the attorney is young and inexperienced. But President Donald Trump\u2019s federal attorneys \u2014 or at least what\u2019s left of them \u2014 are a cut above.Politico reporter Josh Gerstein made no…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n'Take better care': Judge reminds blundering Trump lawyers how to count - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=720\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Take better care': Judge reminds blundering Trump lawyers how to count - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Judges often must step in to correct attorneys on issues of court procedure and protocol. 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