

until their orders were obeyed, the court wouldn’t hear any other business brought by the government
So that’s kind of what’s happening (very slowly)
The original law didn’t have any teeth or punishments for failing to release everything by the deadline. However judges orders come with the threat of contempt, so if Acting AG blanche fails to produce the documents or a valid reason for redacting them he can be held in contempt. And this matters because the attorney general is required to approve things like Fisa warrant requests, media subpoenas, death penalty cases, official DOJ opinions.
Trump could die from and appoint another, but they’d be hauled into court to face those same questions under that same threat of contempt.




If I understand it correctly, the law (passed just before Bashir was inaugurated) actually says there should be a special election called by the governor. However the state’s constitution says the governor picks the replacement