Trump ousts judge-installed prosecutor; constitutional expert says Article II leaves no doubt
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to fire court-appointed U.S. attorneys, even if judges legally appointed them, according to former Justice Department official John Yoo, who said the Constitution gives the president broad removal power over executive branch officers.
"Otherwise you could have U.S. attorneys who are enforcing federal law differently than the president would, and it's the president who all of us in the country elect, and to whom the president is accountable," Yoo told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Trump exercised that power this week by terminating Donald Kinsella just hours after federal judges in the Northern District of New York voted to install him to fill the vacancy left by Trump appointee John Sarcone, whose temporary term had expired.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed the move in a fiery social media post, declaring that judges "don’t pick" U.S. attorneys and thrusting the fight deeper into a constitutional dispute over who ultimately controls them.
FEDERAL JUDGE DISQUALIFIES US ATTORNEY, TOSSES SUBPOENAS TARGETING NY AG LETITIA JAMES
At the center of the most recent dispute is a law that allows federal courts to appoint temporary U.S. attorneys when a presidential nominee has not been confirmed by the Senate and an acting official’s term has expired. Blanche suggested the court’s move to fill a U.S. attorney vacancy was unconstitutional, a comment that comes as the DOJ appeals Judge Lorna Schofield’s decision last month to disqualify Sarcone over his expired tenure.
But Yoo, a law professor at Univrsity of California, Berkeley, said both that the judges’ actions were legal due to a "quirk" in the law and that the president still has authority to fire Kinsella.
"No matter how an executive officer is appointed … none of these positions under the Constitution have any specific way to remove the officers, and so the president can remove all officers in the executive branch, particularly all officers in the Justice Department," Yoo said.
Yoo said the Constitution lays out detailed processes for appointing U.S. attorneys but is "silent" on how they are removed.
"It has elaborate procedures … about how you appoint them to office. It doesn't actually discuss at all how you remove them from office," Yoo said, referencing the complex federal vacancy laws that govern how interim and acting U.S. attorneys are appointed.
He noted that existing law and Supreme Court precedent have long given the president the ultimate power to fire inferior officers in the executive branch, meaning an official like the …
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to fire court-appointed U.S. attorneys, even if judges legally appointed them, according to former Justice Department official John Yoo, who said the Constitution gives the president broad removal power over executive branch officers.
"Otherwise you could have U.S. attorneys who are enforcing federal law differently than the president would, and it's the president who all of us in the country elect, and to whom the president is accountable," Yoo told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Trump exercised that power this week by terminating Donald Kinsella just hours after federal judges in the Northern District of New York voted to install him to fill the vacancy left by Trump appointee John Sarcone, whose temporary term had expired.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed the move in a fiery social media post, declaring that judges "don’t pick" U.S. attorneys and thrusting the fight deeper into a constitutional dispute over who ultimately controls them.
FEDERAL JUDGE DISQUALIFIES US ATTORNEY, TOSSES SUBPOENAS TARGETING NY AG LETITIA JAMES
At the center of the most recent dispute is a law that allows federal courts to appoint temporary U.S. attorneys when a presidential nominee has not been confirmed by the Senate and an acting official’s term has expired. Blanche suggested the court’s move to fill a U.S. attorney vacancy was unconstitutional, a comment that comes as the DOJ appeals Judge Lorna Schofield’s decision last month to disqualify Sarcone over his expired tenure.
But Yoo, a law professor at Univrsity of California, Berkeley, said both that the judges’ actions were legal due to a "quirk" in the law and that the president still has authority to fire Kinsella.
"No matter how an executive officer is appointed … none of these positions under the Constitution have any specific way to remove the officers, and so the president can remove all officers in the executive branch, particularly all officers in the Justice Department," Yoo said.
Yoo said the Constitution lays out detailed processes for appointing U.S. attorneys but is "silent" on how they are removed.
"It has elaborate procedures … about how you appoint them to office. It doesn't actually discuss at all how you remove them from office," Yoo said, referencing the complex federal vacancy laws that govern how interim and acting U.S. attorneys are appointed.
He noted that existing law and Supreme Court precedent have long given the president the ultimate power to fire inferior officers in the executive branch, meaning an official like the …
Trump ousts judge-installed prosecutor; constitutional expert says Article II leaves no doubt
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to fire court-appointed U.S. attorneys, even if judges legally appointed them, according to former Justice Department official John Yoo, who said the Constitution gives the president broad removal power over executive branch officers.
"Otherwise you could have U.S. attorneys who are enforcing federal law differently than the president would, and it's the president who all of us in the country elect, and to whom the president is accountable," Yoo told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Trump exercised that power this week by terminating Donald Kinsella just hours after federal judges in the Northern District of New York voted to install him to fill the vacancy left by Trump appointee John Sarcone, whose temporary term had expired.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed the move in a fiery social media post, declaring that judges "don’t pick" U.S. attorneys and thrusting the fight deeper into a constitutional dispute over who ultimately controls them.
FEDERAL JUDGE DISQUALIFIES US ATTORNEY, TOSSES SUBPOENAS TARGETING NY AG LETITIA JAMES
At the center of the most recent dispute is a law that allows federal courts to appoint temporary U.S. attorneys when a presidential nominee has not been confirmed by the Senate and an acting official’s term has expired. Blanche suggested the court’s move to fill a U.S. attorney vacancy was unconstitutional, a comment that comes as the DOJ appeals Judge Lorna Schofield’s decision last month to disqualify Sarcone over his expired tenure.
But Yoo, a law professor at Univrsity of California, Berkeley, said both that the judges’ actions were legal due to a "quirk" in the law and that the president still has authority to fire Kinsella.
"No matter how an executive officer is appointed … none of these positions under the Constitution have any specific way to remove the officers, and so the president can remove all officers in the executive branch, particularly all officers in the Justice Department," Yoo said.
Yoo said the Constitution lays out detailed processes for appointing U.S. attorneys but is "silent" on how they are removed.
"It has elaborate procedures … about how you appoint them to office. It doesn't actually discuss at all how you remove them from office," Yoo said, referencing the complex federal vacancy laws that govern how interim and acting U.S. attorneys are appointed.
He noted that existing law and Supreme Court precedent have long given the president the ultimate power to fire inferior officers in the executive branch, meaning an official like the …
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