The Justice Department plans to ask the Supreme Court to allow it to intervene in President Donald Trump's appeal of the $83 million jury verdict in a defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll. 

The DOJ explained in a Tuesday filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which cites the Westfall Act, that the federal government should be substituted as the defendant in the lawsuit. The DOJ had previously certified that Trump was acting "within the scope of employment" when he made statements that Carroll claimed were defamatory, The Washington Examiner reported. 

The 2nd Court of Appeals denied the certification, a ruling that the DOJ disputes and wants the high court to weigh in on, the attorneys said in their Tuesday filing. Since Carroll has publicly stated that she plans to give away any money she receives in the settlement, allowing enforcement of the verdict would cause irreparable harm as the money couldn't be recovered if the ruling is later reversed. 

A spokesperson for Carroll told Politico that the 2nd Circuit last year rejected the Westfall argument, saying that Trump and the federal government waived any right to move to substitution when they failed to request it when the case was originally sent back to the district court. 

Last week, the 2nd Circuit refused Trump's request to rehear his appeal of the defamation verdict, but Trump's lawyers argue that the Supreme Court will likely hear the case and reverse the lower court's ruling.