Judge Hearing Shutdown Arguments Not Easily Pigeonholed

Government workers challenging the legality of the partial government shutdown who await a Jan. 31 hearing face a judge who has participated in investigations of three administrations, and who isn’t easy to pigeonhole.

“What you’ll quickly discover is that Judge Leon will bring independent judgment to a matter without regard to the political impact of his rulings,” said David Laufman, a Washington-based attorney and former federal prosecutor who got to know Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the early 1990s when they worked together on a congressional investigation.

The plaintiffs are arguing ...