Chamber of Commerce Appeal Dismissed
July 27, 2018
We reported earlier that it was likely the government would dismiss its appeal in the Chamber of Commerce case once final regulations were issued addressing inversion transactions. Those regulations were issued on July 11. Yesterday, the government moved to dismiss the appeal with prejudice as moot (without specifying the final regulations as the cause), and the court immediately entered an order dismissing it. Thus, there will be no appellate review of the novel issues raised by the district court’s decision in this case regarding temporary regulations and the Administrative Procedure Act. See our prior report here.
It is possible that the government will consider asking the district court to vacate its decision because the appeal became moot. Vacatur might have been appropriate under the old rule of United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 340 U.S. 36 (1950). But because the mootness was caused by the government’s own action of issuing final regulations, a motion to vacate likely will not be granted under the current standard set forth in U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall Partnership, 513 U.S. 18 (1994).
Chamber of Commerce – Fifth Circuit Order Dismissing Appeal
Chamber of Commerce – Government Motion to Dismiss
