Press Release
February 10, 2025
WASHINGTON – State Democracy Defenders Fund and a group of 22 Republican former public officials and legal experts have submitted an amicus brief in support of the several federal employees labor unions who have filed for a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration [against the United States Office of Personnel Management] in the “Fork in the Road” case. Approximately two million federal employees were offered the chance to resign by last Thursday. A federal judge delayed the “program” ahead of a hearing this afternoon in Massachusetts. The signers of the brief include Don Ayer, Ty Cobb, Barbara Comstock, Stuart Gerson, Trevor Potter, and Christine Todd Whitman.
The brief supports the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order by arguing that without judicial intervention, there could be irreparable harm to the integrity of the government, which is supposed to protect public servants and their essential roles. It argues that the Administrative Procedure Act, under which plaintiffs are suing, allows courts to review government actions—especially broad executive actions such as this program.
The brief is available at this link and the full list of 22 amici is below.
Donald B. Ayer, Deputy Attorney General in the George H.W. Bush Administration from 1989 to 1990.
Ty Cobb, Special Counsel to the President in the Trump Administration from 2017 to 2018.
Barbara Comstock, Representative of the 10th District of Virginia from 2015 to 2019 (R).
Mickey Edwards, Representative of the 5th District of Oklahoma from 1977 to 1993 (R).
John Farmer Jr., New Jersey Attorney General from 1999 to 2002 (R); University Professor, Rutgers University, former Dean Rutgers Law School (2009-2013).
Stuart M. Gerson, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division in the George H.W. Bush Administration from 1989 to 1993 and Acting United States Attorney General in the Clinton Administration in 1993.
Peter Keisler, Acting Attorney General in the George W. Bush Administration in 2007; Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division from 2003 to 2007; Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General and Acting Associate Attorney General from 2002 to 2003; Assistant and Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan from 1986 to 1988.
William Kristol, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dan Quayle from 1989 to 1993; Board Member of State Democracy Defenders Fund.
Philip Allen Lacovara, Deputy Solicitor General in the Richard M. Nixon Administration from 1972 to 1973 and Counsel to the Special Prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecutor’s Office from 1973 to 1974.
John McKay, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington in the George W. Bush Administration from 2001 to 2007.
Trevor Potter, Chairman of the Federal Election Commission in 1994 and Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission from 1991 to 1995.
Alan Charles Raul, General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget from 1988 to 1989 and Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan from 1986 to 1988.
Stephen Richer, Recorder Maricopa County, AZ from 2021 to 2025 (R); Board Member of State Democracy Defenders Fund.
Paul Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy of the Department of Homeland Security in the George W. Bush Administration from 2005 to 2009.
Claudine Schneider, Representative of Rhode Island from 1981 to 1991 (R).
Peter M. Shane, Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law Emeritus at The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and Attorney-Adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel from 1979 to 1981.
Robert Shanks, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the Reagan Administration from 1981 to 1984.
Christopher Shays, Representative of the 4th District of Connecticut from 1987 to 2009 (R).
Olivia Troye, Special Advisor, Homeland Security and Counterterrorism to Vice President Mike Pence from 2018 to 2020.
Joe Walsh, Representative of the 8th Congressional District of Illinois from 2011 to 2013 (R); Board Member of State Democracy Defenders Fund.
William F. Weld, Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997 (R).
Christine Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 (R) and Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2001 to 2003.
State Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundation of our democracy.