Biden, Like His Predecessors, Must Not Abuse Power To Appoint “Acting” Officers

Walter OlsonFrom a recent Washington Post report by Matt Viser, Seung Min Kim, and Annie Linskey, it looks as if President ‐​Elect Joe Biden is being urged to end‐​run the Senate’s advise and consent function in some of the same ways that presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama did before him:A Republican ‐​held Senate — or even one with a narrow Democratic majority — probably will affect Biden’s Cabinet picks given the Senate’s power to confirm nominees.One option being discussed is appointing Cabinet members in an acting capacity, a tactic that Trump also used.“Just by virtue of the calendar and how many positions are filled, that’s always a possibility, ” the person said. “Because the Senate moves so slowly now, so much more slowly than it used to.”We at Cato have been repeatedly critical of the tactics used by presidents of both parties to work around the Senate ’s advise and consent role. AsIlya Shapiro and Thomas Berry wrote concerning a furor over Obama ’s nomination of a general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB):Under the default constitutional rule, all federal officials are nominated by the president with the “advice and consent of the Senate.” But sometimes, when an unexpected vacancy arises, appointing and confirming a replacement can take a while. Congress knows this, and that ’s why it has enacted—and frequently updated—the Vacancies Act. The latest ve...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs