September 17: On This Day In 2020
Unlawful and illegitimate: In the summer of 2020, Chad Wolf, Trump’s Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, tried to enforce two new rules for asylum seekers. Perhaps not surprisingly, these Trumpian rules made it much harder for these new arrivals to seek gainful employment in the US.
But federal judge Paula Xinis ruled that Acting Secretary Wolf had no authority to enforce those rules because he was only… the Acting Secretary.
Xinis’ ruling cast a spotlight on Trump’s penchant for ignoring the law. In this case, as in similar ones, he sidestepped the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, which requires the president to secure the “Advice and Consent of the Senate” in filling key positions—such as Secretary of Homeland Security.
OTDI 2020, Just Security published a list of fifteen key Executive Branch positions then being occupied by “Acting” Trump appointees. None of them bothered going through the required Senate confirmation process to become approved for their full-time positions. By ignoring the law, Trump could put whomever he wanted in key roles, at least until their time was up and he had to rotate to the next “acting” stooge.
It was Alexander Hamilton who had advocated for the Advice and Consent requirement so as to ensure the president’s advisors were adequately vetted. It was Donald Trump who blew it off.
Trump often appointed people based on whether they “looked” the part, as if they were actors in a TV show. He gave a whole new meaning to the term “Acting” official.
Enormous hypocrites. When Trump was in charge, he failed to request the mandatory Advice and Consent from the Democratic-led Senate. But when the GOP was charge of the Senate, in 2016, they ignored their obligation to provide it. It was their constitutional duty to evaluate a president’s Supreme Court nominee. But they flat-out refused to even have hearings on the matter when Obama, a president they didn’t like, nominated Merrick Garland.
Their unprecedented abdication of duty successfully enabled them to place conservative justices on the Supreme Court. That, of course, has ultimately led to their GOP-led hard-right decisions to take away abortion rights and sensible gun control measures, among others.
Dive Deeper
CNN reported on the ruling against Chad Wolf
Just Security’s has the tally of Trump’s unlawful appointments
USA Today has the “central casting” story
On This Day In The Trump Administration: Trump ignores the Constitution Appointments Advice and Consent