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President Trump announced on Twitter yesterday that Kevin McAleenan would assume the duties of acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security after Kirstjen Nielsen resigned on Sunday.
…. I am pleased to announce that Kevin McAleenan, current US Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, will become Acting Secretary of @DHSgov. I'm sure Kevin will do a great job!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
April 7, 2019
There is a problem with this: it is illegal.
Federal law explicitly excludes the application of the federal law on the reform of vacancies to this situation. Texas University law professor Steve Vladeck pointed out that "under the law, the acting secretary of DHS should be Claire Grandy, the current Under Secretary of Management. . If Trump wants to serve McAleenan, he must first fire Grandy.
The key here is the "notwithstanding" language of the law, which appears neither in the DOJ statutes nor in that of the DOD, but appears here for the DHS and certainly seems to exclude the use of the FVRA for name someone other than Grady: https: // t .co / vhNh4Cmf8s pic.twitter.com/328z2RzD4F
– Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck)
April 7, 2019
Trump seems to consider the law as a less burdensome requirement to comply than a tedious regulation to ignore.
Even putting aside the legal problems of succession, there is no reason to think that Trump will soon be appointing a new DHS secretary. After all, more than three months after Jim Mattis' resignation, Patrick Shanahan is still acting Secretary of Defense. And this is just one of the many acting secretaries with whom Trump has avoided the constitutional obligation of confirmation. This includes his new leadership inside, the Office of Management and Budget, and the new US ambassador.
In the case of the Department of Justice, Trump performed a similar feat, making unqualified scammer Matthew Whitaker his acting Attorney General. When Trump finally decided to nominate William Barr, the candidate looked so good in comparison that legislators had no choice but to hurry to confirm and confirm it, fearing that vendors in vats Sneaky whirlwinds do stay at this key post.
Trump is far from being the first president to push the limits of his powers, but (as the Examiner often told of former President Barack Obama), he stands on the shoulders of giants and is therefore taller than any of them. These questionable successions in his government show greater contempt for the Congress, which has already weakened by wrongfully abdicating its legitimate powers over trade, border security and the ongoing war in Yemen. .
Republicans must wake up, because all this is false. If they can not act on principle, they should at least realize that the next president who will abuse power in this way may not be on his team.
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