Re(1): Can Trump Appoint Whitaker to Temporarily Replace Sessions Without Senate Approval? Posted on 11/18/2018 at 16:22:12 by Bill Crawford, (14)
Having just heard another Democratic congressman state on This Week with George Stephanopolis that it was unconstitutional for Trump to try to hide behind the Vacancies Act in appointing Whitaker to temporarily serve as the Attorney General, I did some more Googling.
I came across the below excerpt from a long-ago memo from the Justice Department, which included the following definition of a "vacancy", as contained in the Vacancies Act .
"..Under the Vacancies Reform Act, a vacancy arises when a relevant officer 'dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office'...”
It does sound like the intent of the Vacancy Act does not include the firing of the relevant officer (e.g, Session's resignation letter saying "As per your request, I'm hereby submitting my resignation")---but I think that, by the specific wording of the Vacancy Act, its provisions would technically apply in the case of Whitaker. Replies: There have been no replies.
