Trumps interim appointment of Whitaker Unconstitutional

Sapidus

Well-Known Member
While it is an obvious attempt at shutting down the Russia investigation by appointing someone with a clear bias towards Trump constitutional lawyers including Kellyanne Conway's husband argue it is also unconstitutional.

"But Professor Calabresi and Mr. Trump were right about the core principle. A principal officer must be confirmed by the Senate. And that has a very significant consequence today.

It means that Mr. Trump’s installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of Jeff Sessions is unconstitutional. It’s illegal. And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid.

Much of the commentary about Mr. Whitaker’s appointment has focused on all sorts of technical points about the Vacancies Reform Act and Justice Department succession statutes. But the flaw in the appointment of Mr. Whitaker, who was Mr. Sessions’s chief of staff at the Justice Department, runs much deeper. It defies one of the explicit checks and balances set out in the Constitution, a provision designed to protect us all against the centralization of government power."

Because Mr. Whitaker has not undergone the process of Senate confirmation, there has been no mechanism for scrutinizing whether he has the character and ability to evenhandedly enforce the law in a position of such grave responsibility. The public is entitled to that assurance, especially since Mr. Whitaker’s only supervisor is Mr. Trump himself, and the president is hopelessly compromised by the Mueller investigation. That is why adherence to the requirements of the Appointments Clause is so important here, and always."






https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/opinion/trump-attorney-general-sessions-unconstitutional.html
 

black dog

Free America
Still waiting for the Impeach 45,,,. I'm guessing it will happen when Speaker Pelosi takes the helm.. LOL..
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
There may be validity to this. There may not. We will see if they actually do anything about it.

The faulty part of the logic is that "...it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid." People who pushed the potential of Pres. Obama not being a citizen of the United States through birth pushed that everything Obama would have done as president (should it be determined he was born elsewhere) would be invalid. Legally, that's just not true. Whitaker is acting AG unless and until it is determined that he is not, or he is relieved by an actual AG. Everything he does is as binding as any other acting-AG unless and until that point comes, just as it would have been for everything Obama did.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
While it is an obvious attempt at shutting down the Russia investigation by appointing someone with a clear bias towards Trump

:killingme Fantasy, Supposition, Innuendo and Unfounded OPINION

constitutional lawyers including Kellyanne Conway's husband argue it is also unconstitutional.

:shrug: and it matters WHY - who George is Married to

It means that Mr. Trump’s installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of Jeff Sessions is unconstitutional. It’s illegal. And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid.

Much of the commentary about Mr. Whitaker’s appointment has focused on all sorts of technical points about the Vacancies Reform Act and Justice Department succession statutes. But the flaw in the appointment of Mr. Whitaker, who was Mr. Sessions’s chief of staff at the Justice Department, runs much deeper. It defies one of the explicit checks and balances set out in the Constitution, a provision designed to protect us all against the centralization of government power."


Temporary Appointments DO NOT Require Senate Confirmation .....
Others say the Constitution over rules this ...


Here are the legal and constitutional issues raised by the Whitaker appointment:

1. The Attorney General Succession Act, Section 508, stipulates that when there is a vacancy in the office of the attorney general, the deputy attorney general — currently Rod Rosenstein — can serve as the attorney general. Next in line would be the associate attorney general.

2. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 allows the president to choose any senior DOJ official to serve as an acting attorney general as long as that person has already served in a high-level position for 90 days. Whitaker qualifies for the temporary position under this Act.

There have been arguments on both sides over whether the act supplants the AG succession law, John Bies, former deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legal counsel, told Axios.
"I think it’s pretty clear under the terms of the statute itself that [Trump] has authority ... to appoint someone who is a senior DOJ official," he said.
"The Vacancy Act has precedence [over the Succession Act] when the president picks someone under that procedure," another DOJ lawyer texted us.

3. The Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 is the big caveat that Conway and Katyal argue leaves zero wiggle room for Whitaker. The Constitution specifies that "principal officers" must be appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I'm pretty sure White House lawyers know the law. If some opinion writer for a leftwing blog wants to pretend they know more about it, that's pretty much mental illness right there.

But Trans, you go right ahead and snap at the red meat if that's what keeps you from beating your wife and kids.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Axios is an offshoot of Politico - read: Politico's way of agreeing with itself. There's a lot of that going on with these left wing "news" sites: "See??? These guys say the same thing we do! It must be true!"

The proverbial self-licking ice cream cone...

Like what the FBI did to get the FISA approval to investigate Trump administration; leak parts of their bogus dossier to media and then point to those media stories as "independent reporting" that supported the basis for their application. LOL..great stuff..you can't make this chit up.
 
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transporter

Well-Known Member
:killingme Fantasy, Supposition, Innuendo and Unfounded OPINION



:shrug: and it matters WHY - who George is Married to




Temporary Appointments DO NOT Require Senate Confirmation .....
Others say the Constitution over rules this ...


Here are the legal and constitutional issues raised by the Whitaker appointment:

1. The Attorney General Succession Act, Section 508, stipulates that when there is a vacancy in the office of the attorney general, the deputy attorney general — currently Rod Rosenstein — can serve as the attorney general. Next in line would be the associate attorney general.

2. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 allows the president to choose any senior DOJ official to serve as an acting attorney general as long as that person has already served in a high-level position for 90 days. Whitaker qualifies for the temporary position under this Act.

There have been arguments on both sides over whether the act supplants the AG succession law, John Bies, former deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legal counsel, told Axios.
"I think it’s pretty clear under the terms of the statute itself that [Trump] has authority ... to appoint someone who is a senior DOJ official," he said.
"The Vacancy Act has precedence [over the Succession Act] when the president picks someone under that procedure," another DOJ lawyer texted us.

3. The Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 is the big caveat that Conway and Katyal argue leaves zero wiggle room for Whitaker. The Constitution specifies that "principal officers" must be appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Maybe you should have read Gilligan's post??? It has a much more interesting discussion...

More difficult is the question of whether the Department of Justice’s specific succession statute can be supplanted by a presidential appointment under the FVRA. Section 508 directly addresses Justice Department succession and provides that “n case of a vacancy in the office of Attorney General, ... , the Deputy Attorney General may exercise all the duties of that office.” The statute further provides that if both the attorney general and the deputy attorney general are unavailable or unable to serve, the associate attorney general “shall act” as attorney general. The statute also authorizes the attorney general to “designate” the solicitor general and the various assistant attorney generals in “further order of succession.” Under the current attorney general order, the solicitor general is next in the line of succession.

Currently there is a confirmed deputy attorney general—Rod Rosenstein—but not a confirmed associate attorney general. Section 508 consequently provides that upon the vacancy in the office of attorney general caused by Sessions’s resignation, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “may exercise all the duties” of the attorney general.
 

transporter

Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure White House lawyers know the law. If some opinion writer for a leftwing blog wants to pretend they know more about it, that's pretty much mental illness right there.

But Trans, you go right ahead and snap at the red meat if that's what keeps you from beating your wife and kids.

The White House lawyers might, the Donald Trump doesn't...nor does he care...nor is he bound to follow the advice of White House counsel.

You really should take your head out of your ass sometime.
 

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
As one who is just a good ole country boy I don't know th in's and out's of the law. I am just happy to see that sessions is gone.

The only thing I know is that there is no one alive that Trump could put in that job that the democraps will approve of.
So cry piss and moan you sonsofbitches. Sessions is out.
 
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