You would NEVER had a head of an agency until one is confirmed?
He’s actiing head until one is nominated and confirmed. Time limited.
Time limited? What if Trump never gets around to appointing someone?
Not very time limited.
Under the current law, a temp head can serve only 210 days. After that he would have to move a new person into the temp head.
The 210 is “suspended” upon nomination of a new head while hearings are held. If the person nominated is rejected or pulled, the temp person’s 210 days starts again. I’ll try and find my post where I linked to it and post it again.
Trump would be smart not to nominate Whitaker to the AG position, the Democrats in the senate will most likely turn that nominating process into a 47 ring circus
Here’s the law on Temp appointments:
(a)Except in the case of a vacancy caused by sickness, the person serving as an acting officer as described under section 3345may serve in the office—
(1)
for no longer than 210 days beginning on the date the vacancy occurs; or
(2)
subject to subsection (b), once a first or second nomination for the office is submitted to the Senate, from the date of such nomination for the period that the nomination is pending in the Senate.
(b)
(1)
If the first nomination for the office is rejected by the Senate, withdrawn, or returned to the President by the Senate, the person may continue to serve as the acting officer for no more than 210 days after the date of such rejection, withdrawal, or return.
(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if a second nomination for the office is submitted to the Senate after the rejection, withdrawal, or return of the first nomination, the person serving as the acting officer may continue to serve—
(A)
until the second nomination is confirmed; or
(B)
for no more than 210 days after the second nomination is rejected, withdrawn, or returned.
(c)
If a vacancy occurs during an adjournment of the Congress sine die, the 210-day period under subsection (a) shall begin on the date that the Senate first reconvenes.
Trump should have this Whittaker guy hold the job for 210 days, and at that point get someone else to hold the position for another 210 days, repeat until he is no longer president. There is no reason that trump’s AG should ever be confirmed by the Senate.
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Hmmm, it would not be a good piece of legislation if it allowed a president to simply evade the advice and consent process.
So what happens when the Attorney General resigns? No acting head until one is appointed?
That’s covered in two laws I posted earlier. Attorney General succussion says the DAG “may” be appointed acting until a new one is appointed an confirmed. Key word is may.
So if the DAG isn’t appointed as acting head, then you go to the other law that gives requirments of an acting head.
This is interesting.
Customs, norms, and laws don’t matter to Trump, and his supporters don’t really care much. Keep something in mind as this plays out: they won’t even make good faith or reasonable arguments on the other side because they never do that. The point is to express power and dominance. They can do this because they can do this.
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If the President wants to install a toady for the express purpose of thwarting an investigation into the President, then that’s fine?
Hmmm.
One thing that will hamstring Whitaker is that any actions of Mueller that Whitaker blocks, Whitaker is legally required to notify Congress.
Of course, even if Whitaker knows about this requirement, I highly doubt that he intends to follow that regulation. But he also has to know that it will be a simple matter for Mueller to inform Congress directly.
So Whitaker better make pick his obstruction of justice shots pretty carefully.
With the Whitaker appointment the Trump administration has also set the stage for every Whitaker action to be legally challenged.
He’s far better off keeping Mueller under relatively short leash rather than choking him off entirely or shutting the investigation down. Both of those options lead to Mueller, and Whitaker, explaining themselves and what they got before the House Intelligence Committee.
Remember when it used to take both the committee chair and the ranking minority member in a committee to issue a subpoena? Fun times. Probably shouldn’t have changed that norm.
Reading about this guy–he doesn’t seem like much of a calculating evil genius to me, given the territory he’s been dropped into so unceremoniously. This isn’t TV punditry. We may be fortunate to have opposition like Attorney General Dunning-Kruger.
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Does that law get to supersede the constitution?
Isn’t that what Congress is good for, passing laws which allow them and the president to skirt around that troublesome US Constitution?
Consensus seems to be that you appoint the next in line who has been Senate approved.
Otherwise the president could easily have an endless line of principal officers who have never faced the advice and consent of the Senate.
It’d be a gas if Mueller team’s brief proposed illegality in the Whittaker appointment and supported his continued reporting structure to Rosenstein.
But technically under the constitution the next in line hasn’t had a vote of consent to be head of the agency. That is where the part as subscribed by law comes in. The law says he runs an agency until nomination, consent and appointment.
Law one says the deputy attorney general MAY be appointed acting director. Okay so what if the president doesn’t want that. Law doesn’t say shall, dosn’t say must, doesn’t say will. Section B of that law doesn’t apply, it only kicks in if the DAG is not available.
So then you turn to the next section, temp appointment of acting directors. Requires the person have been at the agency at least 90 days and at least a certain pay scale. Limits their time.
Show me someplace in the constitution that says a person with consent of the senate to be the deputy director became the director upon resignation/being fired/leaving office another way.
Certainly no elected republican, especially in the Senate. They’re afraid he’ll tweet something mean about them, so they’re cool with him being corrupt.
