The president says he likes acting. It is a profession he should have remained in.
At this point we are all just “acting” like we have an functioning federal government. We do not.
2
Just wondering. Do acting Cabinet members have a vote within the Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment to the Constitution (the removal of the president because he or she is unfit to serve)? It takes 8 members (plus the vote of the Vice President) to forward the motion to Congress. With 15 Cabinet members are only 8 eligible to vote on this issue? Does one more acting Cabinet member then make this amendment moot in this administration?
2
I am thankful to the judges that are doing their job and blocking this man's illegal stunts. If it wasn't for the courts, the President would have implemented illegal rules in this country from banning people from Muslim countries to enter US legally, deporting Asylum seekers to Mexico, separating children from parents. How do the likes of McConnell and Grassley sleep at night ?
4
Trump is stealing our country from us right out from under our noses. Who will stand up to him and insist he stop acting outside of the law? I am in utter despair and rage about the theft of our country by this greedy gangster.
5
Senator Mitch McConnell (Rep) refused to give "the advice and consent of the Senate" to the appointement of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. In other words he refused to do his job as a senator is required to do by the constitution.
Now President Trump evades his job of submitting nomination to the Senate as required by the constitution. He just nominates his cabinets and other governmental jobs as "acting".
Stay tune for the next trick that the Republicans will find to evade their constitutional obligations.
6
Catch 22. Anyone who'd take a job in this administration is not qualified for that job.
5
The slew of acting cabinet persons demonstrate lack of leadership of this administration. Donald has no policy. He is acting as POTUS.
2
Trump and his minions clearly and without a doubt want to pick whoever they want to fill these positions in order to control them. We already know Trump has no respect for the law or Constitution--just gets in the way of him doing what he wants. The House could start attacking this game by withholding appropriations, but it is really the Republican leadership of the Senate who need to speak up and demand that Trump respect the Senate's advice and consent of Cabinet officers. I won't wait up.
5
What am I missing here?
Kirstjen Nielsen just resigned yesterday. How could her replacement be anything BUT "acting?" And if a permanent replacement WERE nominated on the very next day (i.e. today) and forced to a vote in the Senate (the House has no say here), the nominee would be approved -- especially since the Republicans increased their control of the Senate in the 2018 mid-terms.
I agree: Trump should nominate permanent Cabinet members quickly and put his nominees promptly to questioning and a confirmation voter in the Senate. But let's be "real" hear: Trump has never even come close to the statutory limit for an "acting" administrator's tenure. For example, whether or not one likes William Barr (I couldn't care less, frankly), his nomination and Senate approval happened pretty quickly. I recognize that "acting" beats "Senate-approved" if one is the President, but it's more than a little premature to complain that Trump is overusing "acting" administrators.
The President gets to pick his administrators, not the NY Times or Congress.
What am I missing here?
“I like acting” says Trump.
We all know that. He’s never been able to be a real president - and never will be.
8
You want civility in the NYT comments?
Ok.
Another acting secretary because the Senate, under GOP leadership, is gutless, spineless and an abomination to the rule of law.
History should be harsh to this period in American democracy. The House seems like it wants to act and might get to it just close to the election when, hopefully, the criminal in the WH will be voted out and then the gutless Congress will be off the hook.
An embarrassment to be sure.
2
Republicans control the senate. They are railroading a slew of highly unqualified extremists onto our federal courts.
But his picks for cabinet positions are SO horrible they could not get through this criminally negligent Republican senate.
4
Trump is “acting President” I mean acting like a dictator
5
I had been worried for some time if Trump loses the 2020 election he will create chaos, up to not leaving the White House on inauguration day 2021. As far as I could tell, no one was publicly discussing this. Then Michael Cohen said it and I knew I wasn't alone. But I read in the NYT (comment section?) that the Secret Service would escort Trump out of the White House, and I was able to sleep again. Now this.
If this was happening in another country, would we be labelling it a coup?
10
Mitch McConnell is hugely responsible for allowing this to happen over and over again. He has prostrated himself to Trump so frequently and thoroughly, he should, if he isn't already, be wearing a baseball umpire's chest protector to reduce the possibility of frontal injury.
5
A coach always wants his best players on the field. You can't play a star athlete forever so you've got to plan for their replacement. Switching players in and out of the game keeps it fresh, leads to better results and gives the coach flexibility. So what Trump wants to change out cabinet members, they serve at his pleasure, it's his constitutional right to do so. I can pretty well guarantee that if Pence wasn't his running mate, he'd have been gone a long time ago and Pence knows it.
With regard to Trump keeping acting Cabinet members in such a status, he doesn't have to parade them before a Senate nominating committee, who's Democratic members are going to want to run down the rabbit hole after some vague recollection of what supposedly happened decades ago. So Trump's giving them the stiff arm, which serves no other purpose other than to drive the Democrats insane. It's a shame that they've been reduced to using puffery as their main weapon of attack. If only Hillary had won.
1
what a poor analogy. department heads need time to build trust, rapport, and goals into their structures. that is all the now important if there department leader's head is constantly torpedoed by his or her boss.
unlike a football game, these leaders also have to deal with retention, motivation, moral and clarity of vision and purpose. Trump provided neither.
4
Thankfully their incompetence exceeds their cruelty.
2
"Oversight by ethics and accountability agencies within the government is also constrained. “The result is a fundamental collapse in ordinary accountability,” Mr. Light said."
Accountability. Now there's a word. If there is one thing Donald Trump has managed to forestall for his entire adult life, it's accountability. A tape recording of him admitting to grabbing women by the privates weeks before the election? Evangelical Christians voted for him in droves. Claiming "fine people on both sides" at a neo-nazi/white supremacist rally? No drop in his poll numbers. Tearing babies from their mothers' arms at the border? Fires his homeland security advisor after she defended the practice.
Republican senators continue to back this heinous man, ignoring their pledge to uphold the constitution and covering for behaviour they know is starkly at odds with everything America has spent over 200 years trying to stand for.
Trump is a symptom. His base is the disease. The senate is his enabler. The people of the world are his victims. The esteemed and vaunted American system of governance is the dark laughing stock of the world for allowing this sham to unfold.
11
By using temps the President doesn't have to pay for medical insurance or benefits. Then he can put that money towards his wall. His business acumen is on full display.
1
This amounts to another type of coup that Congress, the courts and the American people should stop immediately.
7
Another example of Mitch McConnell as the nastiest and most hypocritical leader in government (which in these times are big shoes to fill). If he had an ounce of integrity he would insist that the Senate play a role in confirming these "acting" cabinet appointments.
He has done nothing in his role as guardian of the constitution and constantly enables all that is worst in Trump. A shameful man who has hurt the country for years.
Please Dems, take back the Senate in 2020!
8
trump made it pretty clear: He likes “acting”. “Acting” means trump has less to answer for, and maybe more likelihood of having his pet grievances/electoral promises translated into action.
Forget about the Senate doing anything to stop this: its members are having too much fun wallowing in their filth of corruption, and undermining democracy.
And trump is acting too—pretending to be president, while reality demonstrates that he’s just being trump.
3
Will the Senate act to stop Trump's march towards autocracy? If history is the best predictor of what will happen in the future, probably not.
3
When will our Senate take control of the President? They have the authority to do so in so many cases where he has abused power. Their lack of respect for the way our government is supposed to function is far worse that the man at the top. The constitutional safeguards are in place to stop exactly this type of situation yet they sit idly by and watch our system of checks and balances be continually undermined. He may have the power but we have the vote....remove anyone from office who is not doing their job either by action or inaction!
2
“The Senate ... ordered George Washington to send nominations to the Hill at a reasonable pace,” said Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University...
Prof. Light's critique reflects a failure (or perhaps, deliberate refusal) to acknowledge that The Trump has a much bigger brain and infinitely greater qualification to govern than the Founders could have imagined, as their view of the Executive Branch were based on the myopic assumption that the Presidency would be occupied by simple men like Washington, Madison, and Jefferson. How could they have known that in 2017 the Presidency would be claimed by a man who was more brilliant than Einstein, Darwin, Newton, Churchill, Homer Simpson and L. Ron Hubbard combined and knew more than all the Generals? The Founder’s Constitution, designed to guide the actions of mortals, should not constrain the sublime instincts of the world-historic figure who now dwells in the White House (when he is not golfing). Long live The Trump! May He subdue our quaint propensity to reason from evidence and lead us to quietly abandon the romance of accountable representative government that intoxicated our silly forefathers almost three centuries ago.
3
Don’t expect Chuck Schumer to do anything or say anything. His passivity is pathetic.
If I didn't know better, I would think the only purpose for the trump republican party's existence on this Earth is to protect white collar criminals.
5
It only makes sense for Individual #1 who's only acting when it comes to his presidency would be wary of anyone who, having been approved by Congress ,could begin to feel secure enough in in their appointment to work toward leaving a legacy of which their descendants and the country they love could be proud.
1
Trump, McConnell, and their enablers, are doing what it takes to turn America into a right-wing dictatorship. It is as simple as that. Wake up everyone!
3
He hasn’t had to skirt anything.
The GOP-controlled Senate has been a sycophant-filled chamber acting as a rubber-stamp for trump.
3
It took a con man to expose the frailties of our government and how easily it can fall into authoritarianism should the president decide to not follow tradition and norms.
So much of the operations of our high offices rely on "tradition and norms" that we took for granted. Here we have a grifter who has spent his entire life gaming the system, educated by the likes of Roy Cohen, and aided by a corrupted Republican Party. We can all thank Trump for showing this country how fragile our government really is.
4
U.S. Senate=traitor it's just that simple!
1
Trump is flailing around just as he was known to do in his own businesses. Did the Republican leadership actually think they could keep the ignorant egomaniac Trump under their thumb? Wrong!!
They willingly placed the worst candidate in US history in the White House They are now letting Trump destroy every vestige of democracy that they themselves have failed to eliminate.
Shame on them all. Vote them all out or this nation is doomed.
5
I really do not agree with this President's choices, but I actually think this is smart politics on the President's part. At this point he doesn't need to "confirm" anyone, he is working around the system to get someone in place. This President does not see the process of "confirming" as useful and to a point, I can't blame him, he has no party loyalty, so there is no reason to work with the Senate and this is the easiest method to get what he wants. I do not agree with him at all, but this seems to me to be a shrewd playing of the Senate and allows him to get the yes men he wants. I think he has out-flanked the system this time.
Only because the Senate are standing idly by and he is flouting the constitution. "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate...".
Like the rest of the ecosphere that is his life, OUR laws don't apply.
1
What else is new, we have an "Acting President"!
5
Enough of this want to be King! He’s too lazy to conduct proper vetting. Trump has always skirted rules all his pathetic life of privilege. Nothing wrong with being wealthy as long as you pay your fair share of taxes. POTUS doesn’t know how to govern for the total people because he has no humility. 2020 can’t arrive soon enough. Let’s hope we have a nation left. There has never been a POTUS who can’t keep quality people on staff. Mr. President, you can’t just order your administration to break the laws you don’t like. You have failed to unite our nation. You are a divider. You’ve chosen to govern only your base.That is reason #1 of many, you don’t deserve a second term as POTUS.
4
My great fear is that even if a Democrat wins the presidency, I don’t see Trump vacating the White House just because he lost. He has proven that he is not trustworthy by any normal standards. As much as I detested W, I could never have imagined him refusing to leave office if he had been voted out. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.
It seems entirely appropriate that so many cabinet posts are headed by “acting” appointees. After all, Trump himself is only acting the part of being president as he goes through the motions of blindly demanding fealty while governing by executive order.
2
Trump is purging anyone loyal to the United States (and the rule of law) with those who are willing to pledge loyalty to him, often trading off competence for fealty. These appear to be strategic moves on the part of Trump in advance of 2020. Once the government (including Congress) is populated with Trump loyalists, it would not be such a stretch to envision something horrible happening come eviction time at the White House. Can a president place a moratorium on elections in the event of a 'National Emergency'?
2
Perhaps it’s time to do away with the Senate, they don’t represent the majority of America. The leader hails from a state with a relatively small population but dictates whether a law will be passed, or even brought up for debate. On top of that they have abdicated their duties and disregarded their role as a check on the Executive. Let the House do the work. At this point the Senate acts as nothing more than a rubber stamp of the autocrat Trump’s will.
3
Just hope that a major disaster in the US doesn't take place on Trump's watch. If you think W. surrounded himself with a bunch of amateurs (think Katrina), then we will suffer a greater catastrophe if another 9-11 or Katrina happens during this nincompoop's administration.
2
McConnell doesn't care. He set the record for obstruction while Obama was in office and now is when it pays off. His only priority is stacking the judiciary for a generation.
4
"Trump Skirts Senate"?
Just as Trump repeatedly skirts democracy and both Federal and state laws!
Ominous for democracy, both in the USA and in the world (where other autocrats and would-be autocrats are taking notice).
5
Please stop referring to Ms. Nielsen's departure as her "resignation". She was fired and humiliated by Trump, but not nearly humiliated enough. With the unspeakable crimes she perpetrated against powerless Central American families and defenceless children, who will bear the scars of her actions for their entire lives, she should have had her head shaved and been placed in stocks on the National Mall as far as I'm concerned.
1
Come ON, Congress. Are you going to put up with this Administration's naked defiance of the separation of powers any longer? Are you legislators, or mice?
7
Trump himself is both 'temporary' and 'acting.'
This too shall pass.
3
Everyone in Trump's administration is acting, including Donald. They have no idea what they are doing, they are only acting. But it does make sense, Trump only hires people who look the part.
Hopefully in 2020 America will have gotten tired of the Presidential Reality Show and replace the actors with people who know what they are doing.
14
When Mr. Trump decides he can eliminate the Senate with an executive order, the GOP majority in that body is likely to say any objection is purely political as they slink on home.
About half of the Republican senators are attorneys--their law schools should be getting concerned about how little some of their students have retained.
10
Trump's use of acting cabinet secretaries is obviously yet another attempt to subvert the Constitution. The only remedy is impeachment. In the meantime there may be cases where individuals or organizations unhappy with a Cabinet action might argue that the action is invalid because it was signed off by a Secretary not legally entitled to hold the position. A sympathetic judge might agree; the Supreme Court won't, until the Secretary in question is a Democrat.
9
"Senators rightly worried that presidents might use acting appointees to evade oversight and institutional prerogatives. Yet, we haven’t heard a word from the Senate on the Trump administration’s abuse of its acting authority.”"
Of course not! Keep packing those courts, Mitch, and pray to God a major terrorist attack doesn't occur on American soil under this set of nonconfirmed "actings" agency heads who may not even have the basic competence and emergency skills to keep this country safe.
11
Yoohoooooo.......
Emperor Mitch.........
Although Tator Cheney still seems to hold the title as the politician doing the greatest harm to America since James Buchanan,
the title for the 21st Century is clearly McConnell's.
From his obstructionism under the Obama years, forcing the shrinkage of the filibuster rules,
to his majority leadership, destroying the process for judicial appointments, to failing to even consider legislation,
Monstrous Mitch has secured a well deserved historical ignominy that few (Tail Gunner Joe comes to mind) Senators will carry in history.
8
Remember before the election, some people held their noses and said, “How bad could he be?”
14
Or those who insisted that “there wasn’t much of a difference between Hillary and trump anyway.”
We heard the same thing in 2000 about Bush and Gore from Ralph Nader fans.
1
There are many "acting" officials because trumpy won't pick real talent. It would mean competition in the spotlight for him. They're "acting" in at least 2 senses: they're not officially appointed per protocol, and they can't do the job, so they merely "act" as if they're qualified... which they are not.
10
It is time for the Congress to pass a veto proof law that that sets a maximum amount of time the President can keep a Cabinet post unfilled by a permanent Secretary. Not sure about the hows and wherefores but (as with so much concerning this Administration) the present system is intolerable when left to a Chief Executive as cynical as you know who.
12
Since there is no longer a Republican Party that cares about our democracy, he knows that he can “dictate” what ever he wants. Add to this the fact that there is a 40% base that is delighted that their guy is moving towards a dictatorship, this leaves us the majority two viable options. One is to vote in masses to remove this man from offices and remove as many Republican Senators as possible. Two we need to demand that congress do their constitutional duty and require the President to limit the time that an acting cabinet member is allowed to serve.
17
Assuming we make it to another election, Trump is ensuring folks like me, many many millions would once consider a GOP candidate, NEVER EVER vote GOP again. Enjoy the destruction while it lasts, Trumpers and complicit GOP; it's your last hurrah.
23
Another not so cleverly disguised abuse of Office! Wake up Congress!
14
The impression that's given with Mr. Trump's constant need to shuffle Cabinet positions is that he's literally addicted to making decisions which have a dramatic effect--a major part of his obvious need for the thrill of power.
During his term so far this president has managed to decide so many things, usually by Tweet (very suggestive that he's doing us all a favor by even letting us in on what "His Greatness" is up to), some of which he withdraws after a short period of time, some which linger in the atmosphere unattended to, changed, or watered down; and some decisions which have caused national or international repercussions that are embarrassing, confusing, ill-conceived, or malicious.
The question remains: is Mr. Trump intentionally attempting to keep us in a precarious state of flux by slowly dismantling the workings of the government, or the influence of Congress, or the meaning of the Constitution itself all for just the thrill of being able to do so?
What we seem to be witnessing is a president who evidently enjoys keeping everyone in a constant state of confusing change by his erratic inability to settle down. I'm not so sure that we aren't witnessing a man whose behavior is based on a serious mental condition.
Wake up call here! Is there a doctor in the house?
8
malignant narcissism ....
3
When are the America people going to figure out that the country is being run by morons, acting or not?
7
Stephen Miller isn't Mastermind behind Trump--Have you seen him square off with Jake Tapper--an hors d'oeuvre. Nah--people pulling the strings -you will never see...........
1
Can we install an acting president?
9
I went on a cruise and took a news vacation. I fantasized that when I got back, Trump & Pence would be gone and Nancy Pelosi had a new title.
2
Our government is being run by Kelly Girl. I guess Republican in the senate don't care that trump is doing an endrun about their constitutional duties. Talk about being weak.
6
The managerial acumen of a businessman who presided over 6 corporate bankruptcies on full display.
Trump’s lack of qualifications notwithstanding, how the Senate continues to bury their collective heads in the sand is astounding; appears to be complete abdication of their role, unbelievable.
If the Senate would stop acting as a bulwark against challenging Trump, he would be far less powerful - seems to be the real reason McConnel and his minions don’t pull the plug on the president...party above all else, unbelievable.
116
@JH
I suspect that the Senate doesn't act because (1) about 90 percent of Republicans approve of Trump and (2) he has access to damaging info about some Republican senators and he won't be afraid to use it to keep them in line. I'm thinking of Senator Graham of South Carolina who used to be very critical of Trump and is now one of his biggest supporters. Why the turnaround? Politicians are concerned about self-preservation and election/re-election first, last & always.
18
@spc
They know that as long as they stay in office, the more bribery money will flow into their secret offshore bank accounts.
1
@spc
Agree, but Trump is stepping on the toes of every voter now.
I voted for 2 capable senators, and as much as I understand that in some cynical quarters, Trump’s end around of the Senate is viewed as slicing through bureaucracy, I want our duly elected representatives to do just that, represent the voter.
Just poor form when our affairs of state are being bludgeoned by an autocrat...
3
Like the article about his golfing practices shows - he just plays by his own rules.
He's found a way to go around the Senate - and they really don't care because they're getting what they want.
5
Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell hides and does nothing.
The Constitution means nothing to him, or any other elected member of the GOP.
Republicans are complicit in Trump's malfeasance.
Vote out every single one in 2020.
10
As long as Trump maintains a Cabinet of acting secretaries, it will be virtually impossible to invoke the 25th Amendment.
Too cynical?
9
This is not way to run anything, let alone the worlds largest democracy.
What a train wreck of a president.
McConnell stays mute.
Sad
There is no bankruptcy court to run to for shelter.
The nation is exhausted by his non stop malignant sociopathy.
2
We have acting Cabinet Secretaries and an “acting” President. Seems about right.
2
I guess I without any idea about this guy in particular just see that he has experience. That is a good thing. As for Trump he has zero idea what he is doing. What Trumps wants it to be able to order something different anytime. Like a weekly TV show. He does not seem to get that on a National scale with other Nations that does not work.
I wonder if he even has the remotest clue the drugs actually cross the border. And what will he do when migrants start using boats? Sink them.
Is this his attempt to skirt the 25th amendment?
2
The "reality tv" presidency rolls on.
Trump wants as many "acting" (read "on probation") appointees as possible, thinking that they will be cowed into doing exactly what he wants as soon as he asks for it.
What he fails to understand is that in such a regime, EVERY decision falls on his desk, and "acting" appointees will no dare to do much of anything on their own, for fear of being countermanded by Trump.
That says very little will actually get done, because Delusional Donnie has to be everywhere doing everything, and we know he prefers to be watching tv, talking on the phone, golfing and speaking at rallies.
He runs all of his mom and pop sole proprietorships the same way.
Such a great manager, right?
(Thank God he is an incompetent manager.)
3
We also have an Acting President. The problem? He's never taken acting classes. And it shows. Bigly. SAD!
1
Who needs a Senate? Very old school thinking. Dictatorships are all the rage.
1
Lincoln went through a bunch of generals till he found Sherman and Grant. So it goes for Trump.
@Alice's Restaurant
The big difference is that the first Republican president and his generals were fighting enemies who repudiated our Constitution, instead of the other way around, as is the case with Mr. Trump.
2
“Acting” is the perfect description of the characters in this farcical reality show of an administration directed by an ignorant dotard intent on disassembling any remaining shred of our democratic government. The framers of the Constitution apparently did not account for the likes of a criminal who, with the help of the Republican Party, would restore the monarchy and install himself as king.
How fitting. We have an acting president.
Reading all of the news today, about Nielsen and the other security officals being purged by Trump, I couldn't help but thinking about W.B. Yeats' "Second Coming":
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
For those who are not familiar with the entire poem, it's worth reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Coming_(poem)
1
I'd say this country deserves exactly what it got with Trump, knowing full well ahead of time his corruption and utter incompetence, and electing him despite it. Problem is, the majority didn't elect him.
6
@Character Counts
I don't deserve what we got with Trump. I din't vote for him. Everything that I have fought for my whole adult life is being undermined by a person who has got the Senate under his thumb, 2 stooges on the Supreme Court and probably a disinclination to leave the White House in 2021 if he is defeated in the 2020 election, which may be our last.
3
Next up: the " Special Republican Guard ". Just wait.
Seriously.
4
If Trump nominated someone for an official role, he would be telling the public that he interviewed the person and thought they were a good fit for the job. Then when he fires them for not breaking the law on his behalf, he looks bad - he made a bad decision. Using temps allows him to fill the role without taking a stand, taking responsibility, or doing anything at all. It allows him to keep them at arms length - "Oh, I had to fill the role so someone standing nearby will do until I make a decision. Of course, they may not work out -but don't blame me!" It's all part of his responsibility avoidance.
52
How much longer are we, the American people, going to allow this man to gather more and more power unto himself? What will it take for us to recognize and disallow this imperial presidency and say, "No more!" Because as it is now, Trump's presidency bears little resemblance to any presidency in U.S. history. The Constitution and Rule of Law have no meaning. There are no checks and balances, advise and consent, Congressional oversight or institutional accountability. The further Trump pushes the legal and ethical boundaries upon which our federal government is founded, the more out of control ("unhinged") he becomes.
So I ask: How far over the cliff are we going to let Trump push us? Step-by-step, day-by-day, tweet-by-tweet we are getting closer to the edge.
Trust me, Trump doesn't care. Personal power is his drug of choice and when he overdoses on it, he will take us with him. Even if we don't care for ourselves, what about our children and grandchildren. What kind of country - and world - do we want to leave to them?
99
@Patricia Lay-Dorsey
Congressional Republicans are all-in with this faux president. They are the ones who are allowing these despicable things to happen while they sit silently by.
Vote against every Republican candidate and get rid of them all.
22
@Patricia Lay-Dorsey
As long as Trump is allowing businesses to avoid safety, consumer, and environmental regulation for short term profit, the business community supports him. And as long as he blames everything on un-christian brown people and thumps a Bible (which he constantly violates), his base supports him.
22
@Patricia Lay-Dorsey "Trumpmerica"; that is where we live now. People better start pushing back hard; or else. Germans did not push back hard against Hitler; "jobs and prosperity" lured them over the cliff into Nazi Hades. We are quickly reaching the point where no one or nothing can stop Trump. Will he suspend the 2020 Elections because the Traitorous Democrats and "Libtards" are traitors? Wake up America; our time is short. Ray Sipe
16
The House and Senate should limit pay for "acting" cabinet level officials to 3 months, with no extensions, and no ability for someone accepting an acting role to work in any capacity if they exceed the 3 month limit.
That will force the so-called president to appoint someone, or risk having no one willing to work for him at all.
Democrats in the Senate have obstructed and delayed the approval of nearly every secretary President Trump has appointed. More often than not, after forcing a cloture vote with a requisite 30 hours of debate - including for such important positions as the Ambassador to Luxembourg - Democratic senators have voted against the most benign of appointments in order to fictitiously point to Republicans legislating in unilateral way.
This is all a tactic to hinder the Trump administration's ability to govern and emphasize the dysfunction within the executive branch. While it would be preferable for the executive branch to function more like administrations of the past, the obstruction of Democrats in the legislative branch has made that virtually impossible.
Before pointing to Merrick Garland as justification, note I am only replying to the thesis of this article - not to the moral argument for the Democrats' tactics.
@Jim
Umm, could it be that the reason that Democrats do what they can to delay the appointments of so many is because those individuals are manifestly unqualified and/or unfit for those positions? Of course that is the reason.
The Democrats don't need to "emphasize the dysfunction within the executive branch" (notice that you implicitly said that the executive branch is indeed dysfunctional) - Trump & the Republican enablers show that for all to see every day & multiple times each day.
And before you point your angst at Democrats, you would do well to remember the unabashed and "proudly" stated goal of Republicans when a Democrat was last president - to obstruct and delay EVERYTHING.
5
Many comments here echo my concern about his consolidation of power. Please do an in-depth story/opinion article on this, including how it could affect invoking Article 25. May I also suggest including all of the moves he's made to circumvent our Constitution instead of upholding it. I tried to track this, but his "constitutional avoidance moves" started coming too fast for me to keep up. I know people are tracking the lies Trump has told since he became president, can some please track his moves around our Constitution?
1
This pattern of Trump's looks like a deliberate effort to end-run around Senate oversight, and as signaling a dangerous disregard for any checks on the authority accorded his office. I now begin to fear what I have avoided suspecting, which is that this usurper will not willingly leave office in January 2021. He is already putting unqualified supporters at the levers of power he will need to illegally wrest control of military (or militarized) authority.
4
Would anyone willingly send her child to a school with this much staff upheaval? Where the few survivors include the principal's daughter and son-in-law?
1
Ethics training? Out the window before the inauguration. Conflict of interest? Not a concern in this administration. Quality of candidates? Who cares if they're just "acting" in the role to which they have been "temporarily" appointed.
Time for time limits on "acting" administrators. Once a congressionally confirmed individual has been fired or resigned, there must be a reasonable time limit for the incoming "acting" head to be confirmed or replaced by someone who has been confirmed. No exceptions.
Ethics, conflicts of interest, unfitness in candidates all mean something. It's time for Congress to take their oversight responsibilities seriously and keep Trump's feet to the fire over his inability to find and keep "the best and the brightest" working for his administration. He is a dismal failure at the very basic job he has - providing our nation with a working administration.
53
I also wonder what it means in regards to the order of succession with all these acting secretaries. Not that it's likely to get that far. But still...
2
It is clear that while Trump has lead the Republican Party history will show he is the turning point in how to skirt democracy. What is undeniable is that the Republican Party has been working towards this time in history for years. (See Supreme Court nominee.)
6
Corporate American does the same thing, albeit at a lower level:
Meager pay for lower end clerical/light industrial jobs only attracted poorly educated minority applicants coming through HR. Solution: Managers starting using temps from agencies in the suburbs to get younger people with college or older folks looking to supplement income. In most temp agency contract you can't offer full-time employment until past some period, 90 days typically and you could let people go for no reason at all.
United States of Temp.
6
Some of this is a perception problem. Trump is running his organization like many businessmen run their organizations - they are not afraid to change high level positions if they are not getting the results they want. This is simply different than how politicians run things. You can't say one is right and one is wrong.
Again, like many of these issues, it comes down to Congress not having done a proper job of limiting the executive branch.
That Trump has the power to move money via emergency declarations is on Congress. That Trump can do what he is doing with acting heads, that is on Congress.
And this is not new. Anyone with a Libertarian bent has been harping on this for the past decade at least.
3
@Marvin, actually you can say and I do say this is wrong. First, the Constitution states cabinet members are to be confirmed. Second, the best cabinet officials last long enough to study issues, develop plans to address them and then implement them. Such cannot happen in a few months or often even a year. As for Congress, the last Congress had no interest in providing accountability for thise president; the current one does but there are so many quite serious scandals to investigate, this problem will have to be put in the queue.
2
We are watching a slow motion coup by the executive. He is appointing Cabinet officers with zero oversight by the Senate, thereby upsetting the balance of power between the supposedly co-equal branches of government.
There only person who can stop this is Mitch McConnell. Unfortunately, McConnell has shown no interest in hindering the current occupant of the White House as long as he (McConnell) gets what he wants--control over the Judiciary.
My country is doomed.
194
@Susan
I disagree. This is not a slow moving coup to dismantle our democracy. It's a fast, very fast, moving coup.
17
Under the 25th Amendment, the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet can declare the President unfit to serve, These Secretaries must have been confirmed by the Senate to vote on such a matter. It would appear that the President is anticipating that even his own people could move in such a direction and is acting to short circuit even that avenue of removal.
8
@Susan McConnell CANNOT stop it. Only a remake of the law from full Congress (house and senate) with veto proof majorities can. McConnell and the Senate have zero authority to stop this on their own.
2
"Yet, we haven’t heard a word from the Senate on the Trump administration’s abuse of its acting authority".
You can thank Mitch McConnell for allowing this tin pot dictator to trample the Constitution and the will of We the People.
41
@GB
There are plenty of other Congressional Republicans who are full-on behind McConnell.
Vote them all out.
2
"...But there are concerns about having men and women in such high-level jobs without having been subjected to Senate confirmation for those posts. Leaving cabinet secretaries unconfirmed in their roles could give the president even more leverage over them, or could leave them without full authority in the job..." [op cit]
--
I think Donald Trump ["DJT"] wants to be the King of the United States of America. "Being President," doesn't seem to comport with either his lifestyle or his personality.
--
...I wonder how far DJT will get; that is, in his quest to become America's first reigning Monarch...?
45
This is the swamp that is Donald Trump.
13
The "Crazy Eddie" Presidency is now under new clown face management.
Hail to the Know-Nothing-In-Chief and his Republican Senate Caucus which never cared too much for the United States Constitution or the very idea of government in the first place.
Nice GOPeople.
Remember in 2020.
20
@Socrates
2020 may be TOO LATE!. The time to ACT is NOW!
1
@Socrates
Agreed, on the gripping hand if more people would read, think & vote 2020, then we may still survive.
Emphasis on the thinking before voting.
1
@Socrates
Who knows...maybe the horse will learn to sing?
Too bad trump is not just "acting" as President in some stupid reality show. He needs to go.
18
Everyone in this so-called Administration is temporary, serving at the whim of a madman.
16
Acting President Donald J. Trump.
11
So tot he obvious. trump will never fill these positions... he feels he is better suited to lead them all... like any malignant narcissist. he is a dictator. just like in his business. many stupid decisions..... he believes he knows more that anyone on earth more that anyone that ever lived... more than the generals, more that any economist or scientist... in short a dangerous sick very small man. this has to end, or our democracy is over...
12
Trump is doing everything he can to consolidate his power and to undermine our democracy. Why do we let him?
19
This guy will just keep appointing and firing cabinet members until he finds absolute lackeys and the American people may find themselves in dire straits because of bootlickers. There is always somebody who will take a job.
7
If only Donald Trump applied these exacting standards to himself - presumably he’d have been fired after the first of his many bankruptcies and wouldn’t be masquerading as a business-savvy president!
Any competent leader tries to find the best and brightest people that he or she can for their team. Trump on the other hand looks for sycophants and stooges, seems untroubled whether they might be even slightly competent.
If his tax returns lay bear the industrial-scale tax evasion and fraud that started with his father, will Congress finally have grounds for impeachment?
60
Hey, but Mitch McConnell is OK with that ... and everything else this president does to skirt the law ... as long as he can jam right-wing judges through the system. Who knew how much damage a rogue president and complicit Congress and Senate could do? It will take a generation to recover.
14
Trump just got rid of 3 more in a housecleaning, promoted by his worse instincts encouraged by his most hard core White House Advisors. When is Congress going to wake up? History repeats itself - maybe not the same country as before, but it happens to detrimental results to any struggling democracy that allows a want to be authoritarian actually become one. We are now the ones struggling: will we, too, be ones history writes about allowing this to happen to us?
41
Forget Trump! You can't apply normal rules and mores to him and trying to will again cost the Dems the election.
That said the real issue that seems to surface but then disappear is Mitch McConnell and his complete signing away of Senate oversight or even participation.
So here's the question, what does Trump have on Mitch McConnell? Maybe that's what should be investigated!
Maybe the Dems should have their own hats. "WHERE'S MITCH?"
10
In 574 days, we hope this won't be an issue anymore. However, yes, considering we have well over a year to go, Congress needs to address Trump blatant and intentional malfeasance either through the courts or through legislation. Even a conservative Supreme Court is likely to know down Trump's work around. Democrats will also find allies in the libertarian and moderate wings of the Republican caucus. Oddly, both Mitt Romney and Mike Lee would probably support legislation to end executive confirmation abuse.
Time to get moving. You're already late.
43
@Andy Congress is a mess. We have a few Senators supporting a bill to restrict emergency declarations moving forward yet Pelosi would not support it. She was against Trumps specific play but was not in favor of a general restriction moving forward.
House need to make the first move here, like it did before. Let's see a bill limiting what these acting folks can do.
You could quite possibly get it passed in both chambers, the questions would be if you could cobble together a veto proof majority.
1
@Andy
That is a dangerous thing to count on. You know that if we are right about Trump's ultimate intentions, that he, Miller and Putin will have fixed what ever comes out of the voting booths come November 2020. And he will never leave the White House ever, unless it's to move the seat of power to Florida, Mar a Largo. He has already said that the White House is a dump.
6
Response of Congress should be to ‘act’ by not acting on his agenda
Shut his financing down
This circumvention of checks and balances is anti-democratic and authoritarian
The Senate wil fold like the house of cards the GOp. Is
Thank god for 11/6/18 and 1/3/2020
6
Given the stats of an 'acting' Secretary, I would assume that any document signed by them would lack authority. I would like to see warrants or budgets signed by these 'acting' Secretaries challenged in court.
2
Mitch McConnell does not view the legislative branch as an equal to the executive, unless, of course the chief executive is black or maybe even a woman. Then he likes to flex his muscles.
11
My earlier submission was truncated before I had finished. We all know that President Trump is a superb, sagacious judge of character, intelligence, and dedication to fundamental American values such as equality and integrity. He developed this acumen over many years in the real estate business. We know because he has reminded us of these facts frequently. It is hard to reconcile such astute perception with the repeated hiring -- and firing – of men and women to lead major government departments. It’s beyond my comprehension!
Please help me to understand.
At least the temporary secretaries in Trump's cabinet can honestly describe themselves as "acting" secretaries. After all, Trump can't honestly describe himself as even "acting" presidential, let alone being a legitimate president.
4
I would add two additional limits for Congress to consider beyond Professor Vladeck's three; 1) Limit that no person may hold concurrent "acting" titles at the senior levels of government 2) revisit the Federal vacancies act to ensure a more orderly line of succession across all agencies not just the Justice department with a point that limits the ability to move anyone whose has been Senate confirmed over to a new role for which they might not have been approved for.
Regardless of party this is just essential for good governance and accountability. Congress needs to act now and put guardrails in place. The Senate may not sustain a vote to override a veto but we need the markers placed down for where we are going as a country.
One final thought...Senior advisors to the President are just that -- they advise the President they should have NO power to call or direct agencies on policies. That is why we have cabinet officers and agency heads. Think of the three amigos down at Mar a Lago directing VA policy or of Steven Miller running roughshod over multiple agencies. Time to rein this in!
10
Trump and his advisors think they have found a way to shut Congress out of their constitutional duty to confirm nominees. For these cabinet positions. When will Senate put their foot down in this overreach?
6
McConnell cares so much about Senatorial prerogative that he allows the Mad King to bypass the advise and consent provisions with impunity. I guess nothing really does matter to him but corrupt, partisan judges and tax cuts for the rich.
6
“The possibility that Brexit and the Trump campaign relied on some of the same advisers to further far-right nationalist campaigns has set off alarm bells on both sides of the Atlantic.” The New Yorker
Bannon put Steven Miller in the White House. Now Bannon is in Rome trying to oust what the far-right deems a far too liberal pope.
Let Miller be nominated as the new National Security Advisor and see if his appalling white supremacist views can get past nomination. Let’s see all of the Mueller report. Then we will know if the Republican Party has been hijacked not just by Trump, but a billionaire funded international white nationalist movement.
3
The inability of this president to attract and retain knowledgeable people within his cabinet should be seen as indicative of an impending calamity. Not unlike the canary that drops dead in a mineshaft.
1
All Trump’s appointments are temporary. None will be kept when a Democrat takes office.
All I can say is that I can't wait until 2020 when this insanely and bizarrely-run administration is gone. Please, please, my country is starved for some semblance of stability.
1
In July, 2017, the Dream Act of 2017 was introduced by Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin, but the path this path to citizenship, was ultimately disallowed by the Trump Administration in October, 2017, once polling showed Trump's 'base' was infuriated.
And since then things have only gotten worse.
Trump soon ratcheted up his false announcements meant to highten the fears of his supporters. Caravans of immigrants were approaching our southern borders. Then he dramatized things even more by showing children being caged, wrapped in tin-foil after being taken from their parents. All a gross show of OPTICS for effect and a classic example of 'Blame the Victim'. And all the while Trump hammering home his message about a 'wall', that non-stop-crazy-talk about building a high wall, a great high wall, a see-through, high wall-over and over again, and primarily messaging meant to black-out the promise 'Mexico Will Pay For The Wall'.
And it's a ploy.
This is Trump getting counseled by Stephen Miller to keep this stuff up if he wants to keep hold of his 'base'. And as a result, this growing intensity we've witnessed by Trump for the past two years, from his making things up about the border situation, right down to his purge of our Homeland Security Department starting today is all for effect.
And what's worse is how we've allowed Trump's actions to get normalized, as if this nuttiness is rational behavior.
Well, it's not and needs to end.
8
Does no one see the hands of Stephen Miller behind this not so slow motion consolidation of power in just one arm of government? You are watching the subversion of a democracy. The checks and balances are being sidelined one at a time. Be very afraid!
126
@Doug Thomson I see the ghost of Roy Cohen, Trump's mentor, behind this.
14
@Doug Thomson These checks and balances have not been there in decades. From the Obama abuses through the Trump abuses, this is on CONGRESS for not getting their act together.
As for the 'subversion of democracy' that is a gross overstatement. Also, many folks fall into the "benevolent dictator syndrome.' That is, they don't mind actions like this if they support their views.
The folks that are complaining now were silent through the abuses of Mr. I Have A Phone And A Pen. And vice versa.
Only Libertarians and true federal government overreach folks can been consistently complaining the past decade or more, through Obama and Trump.
1
@Doug Thomson
I want to vomit. He has no respect for the will of the people. I can only vote and hope that he is gone in 2020.
12
The telling detail in the case of both Nielsen and AG Sessions is how extreme they actually were. But both had limits, based on their interpretation of the constitution. Ultimately they simply were not 'extreme' enough to obey Trump because in his view, presidential power is unlimited. The way he describes it; 'acting' officials give him more 'flexibility'.
We have 20 more months before he's gone.
Let's hope he doesn't create an impossible mess.
And commit to one thing; he will pay.
63
@CD
"We have 20 more months before he's gone. "
Or the United States is gone.
4
@CD Typo... I think you meant 68 more months.
@John
Not a typo; don't put words in my mouth.
68 months: Is that what you hope, or fear ?
2
And let us not forget that Matthew Whitaker was installed as Acting Attorney General for a period of time between Jeff Sessions and William Barr, circumventing the Federal Vacancies Reform Act - and Rod Rosenstein - in the process.
37
After this fiasco in presidential management, would you ever invest any money with Trump as your partner? His brand is over.
26
@EW This turnover is much more the norm in the business world. Unlike the slow behemoth that is our government, private businesses are much more nimble and change high level officers all the time.
@Marvin
We aren't watching a nimble hiring and firing process designed to improve performance. We're sailing on the SS Chaos.
Of course, in the real business world Trump could only function in a family business. No private hiring process would result in Trump as CEO. He would have been the first victim of turnover in a normal company, assuming he even made it through an interview with his record of cheating and fraud and his ignorant manner of bloviating.
1
Agencies under Homeland Security:
FEMA
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Transportation Security Administration
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Coast Guard
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Secret Service
What are McAleenan's bona fides for being assigned to this position? What is going on in all of the different agencies under Trump?
Why was McConnell so willing to concede the power of the Senate on Trump's behalf?
Chaos - - -
49
@cheryl "Why was McConnell so willing to concede the power of the Senate on Trump's behalf?"
McConnell has not choice. Trump is doing what he is legally allowed to do. Until the House and Senate change the law, and probably need a veto proof majority, Neither McConnell nor anyone else can do anything. What Trump is doing is legal by the current laws.
@Marvin
Actually, Justice Clarence Thomas thinks that it is NOT constitutional to appoint cabinet officers in an "acting" position and not to seek Senate confirmation.
So Donnie is breaking the law. Again.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-1251_ed9g.pdf
Start reading for yourself at page 21.
Thomas states:
"I write separately to explain my view that the Appointments Clause likely prohibited Solomon’s appointment."
"But the Appointments
Clause is not an empty formality. Although the Framers recognized the potential value of leaving the selection of officers to “one man of discernment” rather than to a fractious, multimember body, they also recognized the serious risk for abuse and corruption posed by permitting one person to fill every office in the Government. The Framers “had lived under a form of government that permitted arbitrary governmental acts to go unchecked,” and they knew that liberty could be preserved only by ensuring that the powers of Government would never be consolidated in one body. They thus empowered the Senate to confirm principal officers on the view that “the necessity of its co-operation in the business of appointments will be a considerable and salutary restraint upon the conduct of the President. We cannot cast aside the separation of powers and the Appointments Clause’s important check on executive power for the sake of administrative
convenience or efficiency."
[Citations omitted]
1
If this were a Democratic administration a coordinated batallion of Republicans would hit the airwaves with two talking points (using Democratic position): 1) The DHS is a runamok chaotic department that needs to be shut down and have its responsibilities dispersed back to the agencies from which it came where they can focus on their mandate 2) The use of acting secretaries violates the Constituional power of the Senate to advice and consent and they'd seek a court ruling on that point severely limiting a Democratic president (and they'd get it from a "GOP judge/justice").
The other thing I note is that the GOP is *never* disuaded by the legal merits of a position. They just sue on whatever hair brained theory they can in whatever sympathetic court they can find. They do not sit around in a law library scratching their chins and twisting themselves in knots. There approach to the ACA has been to file suit on EVERY SINGLE argument they can think of.
So the Democrats need to just start filing the lawsuits. Stop wasting every day with these ridiculous letters of displeasure. File lawsuits and hold officials in contempt. Use the power. Use it!
48
@RS You have described both sides pretty well. The Dems have filed numerous lawsuits, have changed congressional rules to allow them to direct attorneys, have been getting help from Democratic AGs in CA, NY and other states, etc.
The GOP did this a lot when Obama overstepped, the Dems are doing it when Trump oversteps. Have you forgotten lawsuits regarding the travel ban, the ones coming for his emergency actions, the census questions and numerous others?
1
The White House should install a revolving door for all the people who have either : (A) Quit, (B) Been fied, or the best one (C) Criminally indicted.
After Trump's statement trying to start another war with Iran, this is just icing on the cake. Look up "loose cannon" in Webster's dictionary, and it will read "Donald Trump".
13
@Easy Goer
Only if they hook the revolving door to the power grid.
Donald Trump doesn't, and never has, believed in the American form of government. The evidence is in his conduct and public utterances.
This alone makes him unfit for office and impeachable.
38
Another way this autocratic man wants to dilute the separation of powers and keep his nominees from senate approval. Unhealthy undemocratic control issues. He is the worst president ever.
23
So many in this administration now have the word "acting" on their resume that you'd think Trump was running a diner in New York City instead of managing the government of the United States.
Trump is having a hard time finding people that are competent to win confirmation yet corrupt enough to do his bidding. At least working in a diner is honest work...
20
Who would want to work for this guy?
12
@Manville Smith - Crooks, thieves and D-listers.
5
In the current season of "The Apprentice - White House", it turns our that our reality now matches that of the former show. Donald Trump says "You're Fired" every week after consulting with his daughter and son-in-law. Unfortunately, the entire country's well being is a bit more important that the contrived business ventures on the show.
8
remember the role of the Marshall's Service during Nixon/Watergate/Haig - with the firing of the Secret Service head, fear we are heading into the woods again.
10
We all know that President Trump is a superb, sagacious judge of character, intelligence, and dedication to fundamental American values such as equality and integrity. He developed this acumen over many years in the real estate business.. G
Mitch McConnel isn't even an "acting" leader of the senate anymore.
35
By odd coincidence, it also happens to concentrate the President's power by circumventing an important Congressional check. Funny coincidence, that.
38
I'm glad you've reported this story. I was going to suggest it to you and the Washington Post, because it's a growing concern. Trump has figured out a way to circumvent procedure and protocol in order to satisfy his autocratic tendencies. Is there some way that pressure can be brought to bear so that Trump is forced to formally nominate these people so due process can occur in the Senate?
26
@B Yes, Congress can put a bill in front of him to change the law as suggested in the article. With a veto proof majority in case he will not sign it.
Or they can try a lawsuit, but I don't see them winning in the end game, what he is doing is clearly legal as the laws are defined.
“It gives me more flexibility.” As he does so often, Trump has found a way around the law, firing a confirmed cabinet member and replacing with an “acting” person who is 100% under his control. He thinks he is shrewd in this action, but skirting the law is a hobby of his.
He can continue to do this, threatening the acting person with dismissal, until or unless the person speaks his praises and acts accordingly. Then he additionally has someone to blame when things blow up in his face.
Never before have we been under the control of one individual like this. And he likes it that way. His base calls it “backbone.” Sad......
36
In government there's nothing as permanent as a temporary solution :-)
3
Why does Mitch McConnell continue to degrade the Senate? It is supposed to be co-equal to the Presidency, not subservient to it.
19
@Andy
Mitch McConnell and his ilk, aging white men, have lifelong biases they won't admit. Mitch did say his party would work to limit President Obama to one term. They still couldn't accept reality when he won a second time. Our reality includes a very changed world even in my lifetime. (b 1929). Each and every Dem must do something to support our worthy candidates.Maybe Kentuckians will at long last know what to do.
6
@Andy McConnel can't do anything about this. The law is the law as written, only Congress can change it. So your question really goes out to Pelosi, where is the House bill to change these laws?
At some point, the failure to appoint and seek Senate confirmation for the principal officers of the Executive Branch becomes an impeachable offense. The Constitution's language is mandatory - the President "shall" appoint with the advice and consent of the Senate. I would say that the Executive's failure to perform his Constitutional duty is a "high crime and misdemeanor." Seems obvious.
11
"Leaving cabinet secretaries unconfirmed in their roles could give the president even more leverage over them, or could leave them without full authority in the job."
This is intentional - Trump isn't interested in competence, he just wants sycophants who will carry out his orders and lie for him. Period. He's not acting like a president who thinks he will be around for his second term.
24
@markymark He will have his way or he will bring it all down around him. I think he really does not care about the country or the world or anything beyond himself. It's just one more roll of the dice. He wins or he burns it all down. He is a nihilist at core. He wins a second term or he calls the election a fraud. But he is responsible for nothing.
1
" Acting " is correct, in oh, so many ways. Incompetent fools, playing at governing, but mostly just pleasing their great Leader.
The mind reels, the stomach turns, and the heart aches.
Thanks, GOP. 2020.
23
All of these firings and failures to appoint people to permanent positions are about concentrating power in one man's hands...His own hands. Anyone who does not see this as not looked at how tyrants amass power and eliminate decent.
8
Sure, there are issues of congressional oversight here. Trump is, effectively, usurping the power of Congress. It's wrong. No two ways about it. Practically speaking, however, it doesn't really matter. The Republican controlled Senate will rubber stamp any extremist that Trump nominates.
Not that I'm happy about the current situation. It keeps me up at night, too. But amongst all of the reasons for outrage at the Trump administration, let's not get too worked up over this one. There is much worse going on. For example, ripping children from their parents' arms, to name only one thing in today's other news.
4
When your objective is to destroy democracy, and kill rule by we the people, of course you’re going to undermine every institution established in government to ensure those things! As Mr. Light said, accountability is destroyed. Wasn’t it Trump that announced the grounding of the 737 Max? All power flows through the dictator. I’m waiting for a catastrophe to happen that will be traced directly back to Trump, his minions, and “acting”.
9
Exactly what we need - more inexperience.
6
The US can continue this way for a while, but not forever. At some point regular order must be restored. While this country's founders considered the idea of a rogue president, it seems they lacked the foresight to consider an enabling senate and judiciary.
26
But what's "acting" mean in this situation. Tackett and his sources seem to accept that it means temporary and that may be true. Perhaps, though, is being used in a theatrical sense was it was when Zero Mostel played the role of a rhinenoceros, temporarily scary but no real threat if he actually charged you.
1
The Senate needs to step in!
6
Trump is finally learning his lessons well. Politicians have done this for decades.
1
Oh please.
Scores of articles have been written about how Senate Democrats have systematically stalled/blocked confirmation of Trump appointees as part of their “total resistance” strategy.
Even the liberal “fact checking” website, Politifact, agrees that this has been at least partly due to Democratic tactics.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/mar/16/donald-trump/why-trump-appointments-have-lagged-behind-other-pr/
In response, the White House simply designates appointees as “acting”. When one party decides to resist rather than govern, this is the natural outcome.
2
@John
It's not as clear as you suggest. Try comparing the Merrick Garland nomination versus Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. Obama chose Garland because he was a moderate who would ordinarily be acceptable, even desirable, to Republicans. But no, McConnell wouldn't even allow consideration. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are, by most objective observers, not moderates, but radical activists for the Right. Further, other Trump appointees for regulatory agencies are executives or lobbyists for the industries he proposes them to regulate. In many of those cases, "obstructing" Democrats are choosing their only possible option to protect the safety of Americans, especially children, who will be hurt by the lifting of commonsense safety and health related regulations.
9
@John
First, there will not be any tolerance for an argument that starts with "Senate Democrats" unless and until one who makes it first takes responsibility for the stonewalling of the Merrick Garland nomination. I'm not trying to start a "well they started it" fight, rather observing that the current crew led by McConnell in the Senate cannot even begin to discuss obstructionism with any credibility and neither should you.
Secondly, the process is that the President nominates AND THEN the Senate takes a crack at the advice and consent portion. Mr. Trump should do his part and nominate appropriate people and then we can discuss the responsibilities of others.
6
@Paul Dobbs Garland was a moderate but was replacing a textualist in Scalia. Had Garland been replacing RGB you'd have seen the left throw a hissy fit.
Had Garland been replacing Kennedy or Roberts the story is completely different again.
And Garland probably had zero chance of being confirmed with his views on Heller even if he had been nominated.
Is it possible to get better actors for these departments?
4
Well, let's see if Clarence stands up to Trump. Doubt it.
4
What self-respecting person would accept a post with the current administration?
6
We are having a Constitutional crisis. Trump is blatantly overstepping his authority by bypassing Constitutionally mandated oversight. His doing this negates the equal power of the Congress. Trump is appointing unqualified lackeys who will do his bidding without question and without the consent of the Senate.
Where's Mitch? The ruler of the Senate is complicit in this crises with his inaction. He is mute. McConnell is functioning as Trump's most powerful lackey.
This needs to end up in front of the Supreme Court, like yesterday. If Trump is allowed to continue to get away with this, then what is there to stop him from doing anything else he wants?
Nancy Pelosi says that she will not begin impeachment proceedings unless there is broad bipartisan support. Looks like Trump is doing his best to give it to her.
31
@Bruce Rozenblit There is nothing impeachable in these actions, Trump is following current law for goodness sake. The problem is the law and what Pelosi should do is get a bill out to the Senate that places limits on future acting directors.
Forgive my ignorance, but isn't this against the law? And if it is illegal, why isn't Congress doing something about it?
7
@Larry It is not illegal as the law is written, that is the problem. What can Congress do? They can a pass a new law, they can start a court challenge with an argument that it circumvents what is intended, but that will both take time and has a longer shot at prevailing.
The Constitution is meaningless to Trump because it isn't all about him. The Senate is given over to Republicans who won't honor separation of church and state, and have their collective head buried in ways to force their will on all of us. They don't care how it gets done.
The consequence is the single most venal administration our country has every seen.
10
yes, kirstjen nielsen resigned like i'm the queen of england. she "resigned" to keep whatever perks that allows her. let's keep those "whack-a-mole" cabinet posts going until trump is kicked out of the WH. in the meantime, mitch mcconnell is so busy, remaking the senate. gosh, this is so disgusting.
5
We are on a path to a coup d’etat by Trump - Congress, please recognize we are the proverbial frogs in the gradually warming pot, oblivious to the likely end (which is now in sight), and the water is getting rather HOT!
8
Maybe Trump's cabinet should be referred to as the 1099 cabinet.
10
@misterdangerpants
Very good...welcome to the gig economy, right?!
Nice work, Dangerpants.
It seems illogical, at least, that an unconfirmed Cabinet member has the fully-vested authority to act/exercise the authority which vests post-confirmation?
An article by NYT elucidating whether it is Contitutional for “acting” Cabinet members to function exactly as though they were affirmed by Congress, please?
1
@MB Thompson Unless law prohibits is, you are on tenuous ground trying to say they can't act with near full authority. The problem here is the law, Congress again has failed to limit the executive branch.
At some point we are going to have to stop acquiescing to the gutting of the country. The problem is that after a lifetime of some semblance of working together on these issues - we still can't get our arms around the wholesale destruction because I fear we keep expecting some sanity to prevail.
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@Michelle Teas
"Wholesale destruction" is the right description. But as a Times reader online + other serious reading I do have hope that we Dems have all gotten the message. Each of us must take action(s) for change if we want the Trump era to end. Read. Be informed. Speak, (It amazes me how many aren't able to converse about issues.) Write. Give $ - no matter how small the amount to Dems in distant states who need universal support. We can make sanity happen. We must.
10
No way to run an airline let alone a country!
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@bea durand
And he couldn't run a successful airline either.
2
At the core of this is the fact that we seem to have an "acting president" who was rejected by 54% of the American electorate in 2016 and whose job approval hovers in the low-40s. Let's hope this "act" ends on January 20, 2021.
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@Mark I agree.
Not only is Trump attempting to "act" like a president and failing in the attempt, he's also trying to act like a sensible grownup.
I fear for our country. The damage this disturbed, inadequate, ignorant man does every day is substantial, especially since he's aided and abetted by craven cowards in the Senate majority.
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@Mark
The frightening fact is that a third of the country still supports him.
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@Mark
Donald Trump won a majority in the Electoral College in the 2016 Presidential election. And that is the only poll majority that matters.
Among the 63 million Americans who voted for Trump were 58% of the white voting majority including 62% of white men and 54% of white women.
2
Justice Clarence Thomas argued in a concurring opinion in a 2017 case that there was seemingly no constitutional basis for having “acting” cabinet members and that there needed to be limits on a president’s power to fill the highest positions without Senate confirmation.
Oh, please. Thomas has always been an embarrassment to my alma mater, Yale Law. HIs "opinions" are written by his clerks. He never asks questions during oral arguments because his ability to articulate is near zero.
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This is all on Mitch M's shoulder. He is handed over his responsibilities to GOP donors, who are playing game of musical chairs with US institutions and making them weak.
We'e seeing a implosion of our system through big money, which started with Roberts through citizen united.
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@P2
Agreed. But the problem is that McConnell has already demonstrated that his one and only consideration in life seems to be ramming judges through the system — regardless of the cost to the institution of the Senate, the health and well being of his constituents, and least of all the critical interests of the nation.
19
So much for a "CEO presidency." The Trump administration has had an astronomical turnover rate and an astonishing number of unqualified people. No one with any business acumen would see Trump's staffing record as any success.
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@NM
The turnover rate has little to do with Trumps CEO status.
He has never run a public company and any board of directors that hired him to do so would be violating their duty as fiduciaries.
Elon Musk is on thin ice and he has a long way to go before reaching Trumps level of foolishness and self aggrandizement.
7
@NM,, you are forgetting that Trump’s aim is the destruction of many American institutions. Each time the majority of us is upset at something he says or does, he gives himself points. Have we ever had a President so destructive or so blatantly considering America as “those who support me unconditionally”? Next up: provoke Iran into a war.
9
This President swore to uphold the constitution and in skirting the constitutional requirement to submit his cabinet and other appointees to the advice and consent of the Congress he is clearly in breach of his oath. As such, he has forfeited his right to continue in office. Imagine what the Senate would have done if these were the actions of a President Obama. It is clear that this Republican controlled Senate has no interest in defending the constitution. From its decision not to consider the Garland nomination for the U.S. Supreme court to its silence on the matter of acting appointments, it's only concern is partisan politics.
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@S H
At what point does this corruption, irresponsibility, and outright criminal behavior of Trump, his administration, and the GOP at large cross the line into treason? I cannot see Trump, or McConnell, or SH Sanders, or any of a dozen other government officials on my TV without wanting to throw it out my window. This is not normal by any stretch of the imagination. This is all wrong in so many ways and the people with the power to stop it do not seem to care. How is the USA going to pull out of this tailspin? Or are we destined to crash?
6
Our local Starbuck’s has more stable staffing than Trump’s national security team. When the 3:00 AM call comes in, the reality show president will have his acting Chief of Staff call his acting Defense Secretary and consult with his acting Director of Homeland Security.
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@Jack
I so hope to hear this point made by whoever opposes him in 2020.
I have always rolled my eyes at people who wring their hands at the state of the country's defense because I only saw a call to shovel more money at the corrupt military contractors.
My hands are all wrung out after 2 years of this buffoon. I can only hope the dangerous factions out there are as disorganized as our government is now. It will be the only hope, along with a massive change in the personell of our government in 2020.
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@Jack:After a full day of golf at Mar-a-Lago you expect him to take calls at 3:00 AM?
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@Jack
3am? That's when Trump sends his very best tweets with his most excellent words. He doesn't take calls then.
4
Is Trump defanging the 25th Amendment, one "acting" at a time? Maybe look into that topic.
Meanwhile, Trump is effectively undermining Congress and the Executive branch while placing loyalists in the Judiciary. A resounding defeat in 2020 may be the only way he will leave the White House.
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@Chrisinauburn and the scary part is he might refuse to go no matter the result
Just another example of the breakdown of traditional norms within the government.
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The fact that this temporary designation is allowed by the Republican Senate means that the Senate itself has achieved the same "acting" status. Loyalty has replaced responsibility, whims have replaced rules of order and acting has been replaced by acquiescence. And the award for best actor in a comedy of errors goes to Mitch McConnell.
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@Rick Gage: All in the interest of campaign funding from the grand moguls and freedom from attack on Fox TV.
14
him and Steven Miller are primarily the problem...but let's not forget Grassley, and his unforgivable disgraceful behavior during Kavaunauh hearing!!
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And lust for power has replaced responsibility....
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