Anne Joseph O’Connell, an expert on the appointment of acting officials at Stanford Law School, said the justices are likely to agree to hear the case. If they do, it could easily turn into a blockbuster ruling on presidential power and again put the court on a collision course with the president.

“I expect that they will take it,” she said, “because it has huge consequences.”

Professor O’Connell said Trump’s critics should be careful about what they wished for. Eliminating the president’s ability to install acting officials, particularly after a change in administrations, she said, “would have an asymmetric effect” because an office could be paralyzed if the president is unable to name a new leader whom the Senate would confirm.

“Not being able to have acting officials hurts Democrats more than it hurts Republicans,” she said. “As we’ve seen, Republicans, on average, are willing to let certain agencies not function at all.”