Wisconsin Supreme Court mulls arguments over Meagan Wolfe's 'holdover' appointment
Two years ago, a conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a Republican appointee could remain in his job past his term. On Monday, the issue was back before the court, where a justice on new liberal majority called it a “a case of careful what you wish for.”
The case before the Supreme Court is, at its heart, a political battle over whether Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe should be allowed to keep her job despite her appointment ending more than a year ago. The dispute has been driven by conservatives angry with how Wolfe oversaw the 2020 election, when COVID-19 changed the way clerks handled voting and President-elect Donald Trump cast doubts about his loss to President Joe Biden.
But the current lawsuit, filed last year by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul after the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate voted to fire Wolfe, represents a new test for a 2022 ruling from the court. In that ruling, conservative justices found Republican political appointee Fred Prehn could stay on the state’s Natural Resources Board past his term because the Senate hadn’t held a vote to confirm a replacement appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
During oral arguments Monday, Republican attorney Misha Tseytlin argued this case is different because state law requires the elections commission’s three Democratic and three Republican members to vote on a new administrator every four years. Liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz was skeptical about Republicans’ intent.
https://www.wpr.org/news/wisconsin-supreme-court-arguments-meagan-wolfe-appointment