Congress, Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Is The Whitaker Appointment (and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act) Constitutional?

Yesterday, I addressed arguments that the appointment of Matt Whitaker as Acting Attorney General violates federal law.  The arguments based on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, in my view, are unpersuasive. As I noted, however, there remains a different and more fundamental question of whether the Act itself is unconstitutional by allowing an official without Senate confirmation to assume, even temporarily, the office of a “principal officer.”  If standing can be found to challenge the Act on that basis, the constitutional  arguments are compelling.  The constitutional question could be difficult to litigate if a nomination is made in January.  However, these constitutional concerns again raise the logic of firing Jeff Sessions immediately after the election as opposed to having him serve until the confirmation of his successor. Nevertheless, this is an issue that is somewhat untested in the courts and challengers would need to establish standing as well as raise a “ripe” issue to argue that Whitaker is lawful under the Act but the Act is unconstitutional under Article II.

It is not the entire Act that would be challenged. The first two options both involve confirmed officials being designed as acting heads of the department.  However, Subsection (a)(3), states “notwithstanding paragraph (1), the President (and only the President) may direct an officer or employee of such Executive agency to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity, subject to the time limitations of section 3346, if (A)during the 365-day period preceding the date of death, resignation, or beginning of inability to serve of the applicable officer, the officer or employee served in a position in such agency for not less than 90 days; and (B) the rate of pay for the position described under subparagraph (A) is equal to or greater than the minimum rate of pay payable for a position at GS–15 of the General Schedule”

There has been a long debate about the impact of the Appointments Clause of the Constitution on such appointments.  Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, a president must secure the “Advice and Consent” of the Senate for non-inferior or “principal officers.”  The clause specifically mandates such confirmation for “Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law.”  The clause then allows for a more lenient rule for inferior officers:  “but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.”

The position of the Attorney General is clearly that of a principal officer — requiring confirmation as a prerequisite for the exercise the powers of that office.  Under the Act, Whitaker can carry out those functions without confirmation for 210 days and then gain another 210 days if the nominee fails to secure confirmation.  In the meantime, a federal agency is being run by someone without confirmation (Whitaker’s earlier confirmation for U.S. Attorney would not count).

Ironically, it was the Democrats who resisted this argument recently in the challenge to both Mueller’s authority but also Obama appointments.  I have been skeptical of this argument against Mueller by Steven Calabresi in the Wall Street Journal under the Appointments Clause because he is reporting to and under the supervision of a principal officer. Nevertheless, this remains a rather murky area of delineation under Article II.

In this case, Whitaker will be performing at the highest official in the Justice Department, including potentially playing a key role on matters of succession and other vital functions.

The selection of Whitaker unnecessarily triggered this constitutional question, which in turn fueled speculation of why the President would take on such water for a relatively unknown individual.  Whitaker is also controversial in his statements suggesting that we should appoint judges with Christian values and his questioning of the qualifications of secularists.  Trump could have simply followed tradition and appointed Rod Rosenstein or turned to his Solicitor General.  He didn’t.

In a fight, Trump could well lose conservatives on this one like Justice Clarence Thomas who as written  about the importance of such confirmations under the Constitution.  The question is the likelihood of a fight if Trump moves on a nominee in the next few weeks.  As with Emoluments and birthright citizenship and other issues, Trump appears intent in answering long unresolved constitutional debates. This was was entirely unnecessary and his critics have solid ground to question the statute under the plain meaning of Article II.  Thus, Whitaker is lawful under the federal law but there remains a serious question of whether the federal law is constitutional.

139 thoughts on “Is The Whitaker Appointment (and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act) Constitutional?”

  1. WHITAKER: “JUDGES SHOULD HAVE A BIBLICAL VIEW OF JUSTICE”

    Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker has said that judges should have a “biblical view,” that he could not support nominees who are “secular” and declared that federal courts should be the “inferior branch” of government.

    Whitaker’s comments, made during an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2014, have drawn new scrutiny since President Trump named him Wednesday to replace ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

    In an April 25, 2014, debate, moderator Erick Erickson asked the candidates about their faith. Whitaker said that, if elected, he would want judges who “have a biblical view of justice, which I think is very important …”

    Erickson interjected: “Levitical or New Testament?”

    “I’m a New Testament,” Whitaker answered, according to an account at the time in the Des Moines Register. “And what I know is as long as they have that world view, that they’ll be a good judge. And if they have a secular world view, where this is all we have here on Earth, then I’m going to be very concerned about that judge.”

    Edited from: “As A Senate Candidate Whitaker Has Said He Could Not Support ‘Secular’ Judicial Nominees”

    Today’s WASHINGTON POST

  2. On the issue of being scum, payback, and karma there is this glorious news.

    “Ford wrote last month that she had to move four times due to ongoing threats. “The costs for security, housing, transportation and other related expenses are much higher than we anticipated and they do not show signs of letting up,” she said in a GoFundMe campaign created on her behalf.”

    💩👍🏽👏🏽

      1. 1. Christine Blasey’s not on the list of people an astute person will trust without verification.

        2. She did this to herself. Sorry for the anxiety her husband and children are suffering, but they have to know that one of the responsible parties is the lady of the house. Some of the interest and dividends from her GoFundMe haul can pay for security.

        1. nothing works in a vacuum. Eventually it comes back around but in her case, much sooner.
          Her husband did not have the cojones to guide her so now they both look like weak damsels in distress. good

          “When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.“
          Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion

  3. Sessions should run against Trump for President. The South Will Rise Again. No more Yorkies.

    1. Excerpted from the article linked above:

      Sam Clovis, who was co-chair of Trump’s 2016 campaign and has testified before the grand jury in the Mueller investigation, said he and Whitaker became good friends when they ran against each other as Republicans in a 2014 Senate primary campaign in Iowa. Whitaker also later served as the chairman of a Clovis campaign for state treasurer.

      [end excerpt]

      That conflict of interest ought to be a fatal disability for Whitaker as Acting Attorney General. In fairness to Turley, maybe he doesn’t know about it. Let’s spell it out, anyway. Whitaker served as campaign chairman for Sam Clovis in 2014. Clovis served as co-chair of Trump’s campaign. Clovis hired Trump’s foreign policy advisers–Page, Papadopoulos, George Nader and the other one whose name I can never remember because the first three get all the attention. Can Matt Whitaker oversee Mueller’s investigation of Sam Clovis and George Nader without any conflict of interest? Perhaps Turley shall never speak of anyone’s conflict of interest again.

      1. Everything about this appointment paints Whitaker as the classic stooge. Trump might as well have appointed Devin Nunes to the A.G. post.

        Turley’s opinion that this appointment is legal is being seriously questioned. From what I hear, Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein or Solicitor General Noel Francisco are the only rightful candidates for Acting A.G. Both have been rightfully confirmed by the Senate.

        1. It’s a banal administrative measure, Peter, in force until confirmation hearings on a new Attorney-General are in place. It wouldn’t be worth a moment of thought on the part of anyone not getting that bounty from Correct the Record.

    2. This morning’s chuckle; Diane/ L4B talking about how someone else😒 would “harp on and on”.
      This, from the Queen of Harping. 😊😂

          1. L4D doesn’t have any problem standing on her own.

            (You’d be lost without all of us, Mr. Nash.)

            1. No, I’d probably go back to reading all of the comments with my morning coffee “without all of you”.
              Especially one of you who often floods the early AM threads with propaganda in her regular 3-5 hour shifts.

      2. Tom, Whitaker has said that judges should have a ‘biblical view’ of the law. Do ‘you’ agree with that?

        1. We had a Supreme Court Justice who said appellate courts should take their cues from the opinions of foreign courts and we had five Supreme Court Justices who offered, in all seriousness, that conventional matrimonial law in all 50 states was ‘unconstitutional’. Peter. You got a complaint, take a number and sit down.

        2. PH,..
          – No, I wouldn’t use that criterion in deciding a judge’s fitness.
          And even if I did, I have yet to find anyone who has my “biblical view”, the only correct interpretation of the Bible.😊😂
          Did you ever see The Ballad of Cable Hogue?

          1. PH,…-As an aside,
            I know that you usually know when I’m joking; the emojis are used in part to for the benefit of some who don’t.
            I just went into other reasons why I sometimes make a point of using a LOT of them, but that particular reason for increased emoji use is specifically for the benefit of someone else.

  5. Off topic but of interest, I should hope, to lawyers:

    Is Pepperdine College going to go up in flames?

    2. David Benson is the God Emperor of Making Stuff Up and owes me twenty-three citations (one from the OED, one from the town ordinances and two from the Old Testament) and the source of a quotation, after twenty-two weeks, and needs to cite all his work from now on. – we know that you know what makes bad opera having seen enough of it. What is the worst bad opera you have seen? And where?

  7. Story not suited to the Daily Tatler, sorry.

    Wouldn’t even make bad opera.

    1. “Recusal is not good enough…Attorney General Jeff Session must resign now”-
      Tom Pezez, March-April 2017

      1. Perez now says that firing Sessions “is worse than the Saturday Night Massacre”.
        In demanding that Sessions be fired, is Perez complicit in “something worse than the Saturday Night Massacre”?

  11. Assume, for a moment, that Trump has the right to demand the resignation of an AG but does not have the right to appoint someone to run the place until the Senate approves.

    In the meantime, who runs the place? I suppose the only remaining person with Constitutional authority is the chief executive himself: Trump.

    1. The President has legally and in a timely fashion appointed Matthew Whitaker to carry out the duties of the office of the Attorney

      General per Article II, Section 2, Clause 2.

      It is implicit and understood that appointees shall execute the duties of the offices they are appointed to.

      The Senate shall confirm or deny the appointment and the Senate shall determine the period in which to confirm or deny.

      The Constitution provides no authority to any agency, office or branch, other than that of the President and Senate, to affect that

      appointment.
      _________________________________________________________________________

      The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 is unconstitutional.

      The Constitution grants the power to appoint to the President.

      The Constitution does not grant power to appoint to the legislative branch.

      The Constitution does not grant to the legislative branch the power to modify Article II, Section 2, Clause 2.

      Modification of the Constitution is effected solely through the amendment process.

      Appointments and interim appointments are the sole purview of the President of the United States.

  12. For a change of pace, something really real:

    Hellfire
    John Valliant
    The Guardian

    Mostly about the Redding fire “whirl”, i.e., firenado.

  13. WHITAKER IGNORED SUBPOENAS FROM FTC..

    WHILE WORKING AS CHIEF OF STAFF TO SESSIONS

    Whitaker has told officials he served in a limited capacity as an outside legal adviser to the company and provided occasional advice when asked but that he was not part of the day-to-day operations, according to a Justice Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

    When the FTC subpoenaed Whitaker for his records related to the company in October 2017, he failed to provide any information, telling investigators that he was busy at that time moving from Iowa to Washington for a new job, according to people with knowledge of the case.

    At the time, Whitaker was preparing to assume a new post: chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

    Another advisory board member who also did legal work for the company, New York-based attorney Eric Creizman, said he also received a subpoena from the FTC and turned over records regarding the company.

    “I thought you kind of had to respond to subpoenas,” he said. “If you’re busy, that doesn’t give you the right to avoid a subpoena.”

  14. MORE ABOUT TRUMP NOT KNOWING WHITAKER..

    THOUGH WHITAKER HAS BEEN TO WHITE HOUSE SEVERAL TIMES

    President Donald Trump defended acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker as a “highly respected man” on Friday, while also claiming he didn’t know him despite reports Whitaker had regularly visited the Oval Office in recent months.

    “I don’t know Whitaker,” the president told reporters, but added that he is “highly thought of” and a “highly respected man.”

    The New York Times reported in September that Whitaker, then the chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, had “frequently visited the Oval Office” and that Trump had called him to offer “reassurance that he has faith in him.” The Washington Post also cited a senior administration official who said Whitaker met with Trump in the Oval Office more than a dozen times, usually alongside Sessions.

    Trump has also previously said that he does actually know Whitaker.

    “I can tell you Matt Whitaker’s a great guy,” he said on an interview on “Fox and Friends” on Oct. 11. “I mean, I know Matt Whitaker.”

    Edited from: “Trump Says He Doesn’t Know Acting A.G. Despite Reports Of Oval Office Meetings”

    Today’s POLITICO

    1. The fact that Trump denies knowing Whitaker is scarcely a vote of confidence! Which makes this appointment even ‘more’ troubling than it first appeared.

      1. Whitaker’s appointment as Sessions’ Chief of Staff was engineered by Leonard Leo of The Federalist Society working in conjunction with White House Counsel Don McGahn. As such, Trump saying he doesn’t know Whitaker would be on a par with Trump saying that he doesn’t know Kavanaugh. Of course, maybe Trump doesn’t know McGahn or Leo, either. Who does Trump know, anyhow? Does Trump still know his own Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly? Maybe Kelly knows Whitaker. They say that Mueller may have subpoenaed Kelly. Or not. There is a mystery appellant challenging a subpoena from one of Mueller’s grand juries. The basis for that appeal is under seal. If Kelly is the mystery appellant, and if Kelly had anything to do with either Whitaker’s appointment as Sessions’ Chief of Staff or Whitaker’s appointment as Acting Attorney General, then . . . Well, Turley’s head will spin like a top for days on end with the conflict of interests inherent in such self-dealing, corrupt, political patronage.

  15. “Mueller Has a Way Around Trump and His Minions”

    “A road map from the Watergate prosecution shows a potential route for the special counsel to send incriminating evidence directly to Congress.”

    By Richard Ben-Veniste and George Frampton

    “Mr. Ben-Veniste and Mr. Frampton worked on the Watergate cover-up task force of the special prosecutor’s office.”

    Nov. 9, 2018

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/opinion/trump-whitaker-mueller-watergate.html

      1. Mueller’s investigation is a fraud. The only thing the end run will be of use for is sending tidbits ripped out of context which Adam Schiff can then leak to the media for public relations stunts.

        1. Tabby, 24 indictments sounds pretty credible for a Special Counsel probe.

          But Trump’s denial of knowing Whitaker ‘is’ a genuine fraud. Funny you don’t see that.

          1. Peter Hill – as Whoopie Goldberg, that great American lexicographer once said, “He didn’t know, know him.”

          2. Tabby, 24 indictments sounds pretty credible for a Special Counsel probe.

            Process crimes, Russian internet trolls he never expected to try, Russian security officials he never expected to try, and Paul Manafort’s tax returns.

            As ever, Peter, people read what you say and they ask, ‘fraud or idiot?’

            1. WSF:

              “As ever, Peter, people read what you say and they ask, ‘fraud or idiot?’”
              *******************

              Give me $50 on “idiot.”
              Plus Mueller gets to investigate every act any target has ever engaged in since his mother was presented with his birth certificate. Twenty-four with that scope is like lauding the finding of a plastic garbage bag in a landfill.

            2. Tabby, you’re saying “Trump is an idiot?” That’s your explanation? ‘He’s not a fraud, just a common idiot’? A ‘rich’ idiot, but an idiot nevertheless!

              You might be right, Tabby. Rich idiots are referred to as ‘eccentrics’. ‘Eccentric’ is more polite than ‘idiot’. Perhaps that’s all Trump wants from the media; a kinder depiction of his true self: “A lovable eccentric who rants like the borough boy he is’.

              If the media took that viewpoint we’d have less division. We should tiptoe around Trump to avoid upsetting him. Rich eccentrics can explode into fits of rage! So we have to be soothing to keep Trump pacified.

              1. Tabby, you’re saying “Trump is an idiot?”

                No, the reference was to you, Peter Shill. This isn’t that difficult.

      2. PH said, “Hopefully Mueller will map his way around Whitaker.”

        For the time being, Mueller and Whitaker are going to have a standoff. One of the appellate courts has a ruling coming up on November 19th on an unnamed challenger to one of Mueller’s grand jury subpoenas who might be Gen. John Kelly. Or not. Either way I don’t think anything is going to shake loose until after November 19th.

        If Whitaker’s appointment does not require Senate confirmation, then Mueller’s appointment definitely does not require Senate confirmation. And that undermines the challenge to Mueller’s subpoena for Andrew Miller’s testimony about Roger Stone and Stone’s other associates. It also undermines Concord Management’s challenge to Mueller’s indictment of Putin’s Chef, Mr. Prigozhin, and the IRA troll farm.

        Whitaker will have to pull his punches until The Courts decide whether Mueller’s appointment required Senate confirmation. When The Courts rule that Mueller’s appointment did not require Senate confirmation (which they will), then Whitaker might come out swinging. But the legitimacy of Whitaker’s appointment will still be indeterminate at that point. And the rulings on Andrew Miller and Concord Management’s challenges will bolster Mueller’s independence from Whitaker with respect to subpoenas, plea deals, grants of immunity and indictments. The exact sorts of prosecutorial actions that U.S. Attorneys routinely take without pre-approval from The Attorney General.

        1. Mueller requested an interview with Gen. John Kelly back in June of this year. Emmett Flood refused to allow that interview, but did not actually assert executive privilege. Meanwhile, there is a sealed motion to quash a sealed subpoena for someone to testify before Mueller’s grand jury. Such sealed motions would be most likely in cases where executive privilege would be asserted. That raises the suspicion that Mueller may have subpoenaed Gen. Kelly to testify before the grand jury.

          Now here’s the kicker: Mueller submitted numerous interrogatories to Trump and Trump’s lawyers on the subject of Sessions’ recusal and Trump’s reaction to Sessions’ recusal. If Mueller wants testimony from Gen. Kelly, then it could be testimony about Sessions’ recusal and Trump’s reactions to Sessions’ recusal. And that in turn might explain why the only competent lawyer Trump has, Emmett Flood, would allow Trump to replace Sessions’ with Whitaker in such a precipitous manner.

          IOW, instead of Trump trying to provoke the implacable Mueller into taking rash action [fat chance], Mueller may have provoked the hair-trigger Trump into a rookie error [poor Emmett Flood].

          1. L4Yoga/Annie/Inga enables David Benson, and the NPCs R. Lien and Marky Mark Mark – you already have two victims of Mueller’s witch hunter who have publically said they are going to try to back out of their plea deal. You have the “problem” of the Russians who actually showed up to the show trial to defend themselves and asked for discovery, only to find out it was not ready and Mueller could not produce. Mueller can only report to Whitaker now. That report stays with him. Since the DoJ/FBI loves to play hide the evidence with Congress, most of Congress could be dead before they ever see the report. Congress can subpoena Mueller, but the DoJ/FBI can shut him down on anything past his name. Remember McCabe and his federal attorney body guards?

            BTW, you should credit whomever you are stealing your material from.

            1. Paul C. Schulte,…
              I think that Bill Martin was the first one to use the Late4Yoga designation.
              There is some scholarly material I’ll try to post; I don’t know if you or Bill Martin had read it, or similar material, prior to using the Late4Yoga name for L4D.

              1. Tom Nash – there is no question that this is a study that could be easily replicated.

  17. The President has legally and in a timely fashion appointed Matthew Whitaker to carry out the duties of the office of the Attorney General

    per the Constitution.

    It is implicit and understood that appointees shall execute the duties of the offices they are appointed to.

    The Senate shall confirm or deny the appointment and the Senate shall decide the period of time for confirmation or denial.

    The Constitution provides no authority to any office or branch, other that that of the President or Senate, to affect that appointment.
    _________________________________________________________________________

    The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 is unconstitutional.

    The Constitution grants the power to appoint to the President.

    The Constitution does not grant power to appoint to the legislative branch.

    The Constitution does not grant power to modify Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 to the legislative branch.

    Modification of the Constitution is effected solely through the amendment process.

    Appointments and interim appointments are the sole purview of the President of the United States.

  18. AUDIO SURFACES OF WHITAKER SAYING..

    RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE HAD BEEN PROVEN ‘FALSE’

    Every U.S. intelligence agency confirmed that Russians had actively interfered in the 2016 election. But Matthew Whitaker falsely asserted the opposite. No wonder Trump loves him! Whitaker shares Trump’s disregard for facts.

    Link below contains audio recording from obscure radio program.

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/acting-ag-whitaker-once-said-russian-election-interference-had-been-proven-false

    2. The DAILY BEAST, no friend of the Trump Administration, has the actual quotes from Whitaker in the linked article.
      Whitaker said that the Russians did interfere, but that there was no collusion with the Trump csmpaign.
      The “news” from HHNN appears to be based on junk internet “information”.

  19. Simple answer JT. If it’s legal under the Constitution it’s legal. The question then goes to the Supreme Court and/or the Congress for Amendment proceedings. All the bitching and whining means nothing Electoral College. Been challenged in the media and on the floors of Congress over 700 times. Net result. No change.

    But there is no better way to solidify something OR effect change than the Trump Method . Light a fire and toss on a gallon of gas. You’ll find most of the gas is in form of meaningless Bronx Cheers.

    It’s also a good way to smoke people out in the open or drive them into impotence as their true intent, to make mistakes, to trip and fall into obvious traps. 40 some RINOs gone while a few are seizing the opportunity to move on to better things.

    One has to wonder where Gowdy will end up. I’m hoping on the Court. but not as AG. At least not until he doesn’t have recuse. Still, even so, by doing the job Sessions refused to do….in the end he would make a fine Justice. or Chief Justice.

    Some are destined for greatness and some for the garbage pail’s of history. It’ s easy to see which is which when the first comment made was “why xyz had six million popular votes in the last six of seven elections or whatever that was.

    You would think they would learn why but no … .not intellectual garbage.

    Can you smell the gas?

  20. Sessions, the man who put his office and the US above all, regardless of whether one agrees with him, is fired. In his place, Trump places a lapdog who will put Trump above the office and the US. This is your champion?

    1. Yes and the more he culls the swamp the more he gets supported. Question for you is: “When is it my turn to be treated like a weed?”

      1. MA

        You call it culling the swamp. What Trump is doing is getting rid of anyone who doesn’t kneel down to him and replacing them with lap dogs. The only weeds are those who support Trump.

    2. Well, Isaac, with Mad Max, Tom Perez and others demanding Session’s head on a platter, you’re now singing his praises as “the man who put his office and the U.S, above all”.
      I think the that the guy is now “your champion”.
      Getting fired by Trump, the ostensible demands of Waters, Perez, and others who demanded his firing, is likely the beginning of the “new love” from left for Sessions.
      We’ve seen this act before when Comey, who was despised on a bipartisan basis, was fired by Trump.
      And then largely adopted by the left.
      The juxtaposition of earlier statements by people like Mad Max and Perez and others, with their current stated positions, is great comedy.😊😂

      1. TN

        I was and remain, not a fan of Sessions. However, Sessions did the right thing by addressing the law by recusing himself. This has been established beyond argument. Except by the wannabe dictator Trump. Trump has openly and boastfully stated, many, many times that Sessions in his office, an office designed to protect the people of the US, should be instead beholding to Trump. Several other candidates and former job holders have stated the same, that they were asked if they would be and remain loyal to Trump above all. So, Trump supporters, you have your sacred Constitution, intentions of the founding fathers, checks and balances, separation of offices so one does not impede the other, and all the other foundations for a government that will not be taken over by one segment; and then you have Trump who has stated openly that loyalty to him comes above and beyond all the rest that is sacred. On top of that, Trump is an idiot. So, this is your champion and to support him you blow out of both holes at either end, one definition of hypocrisy. It gets difficult, after a while, to determine which hole the foul stench is coming from.

        1. Trump probably expected a compliant Attorney General like Obama had with Holder, then Lynch.
          Your newfound, glowing thoughts on “the sacred Constitution” , “the intentions of ths founding fathers”, etc. seemed to be absent when hardcore Obama loyalists steered the DOJ.
          You are in no position to lecture anyone “aboot” hypocrisy, you fool.

          1. You don’t need a fraud like Holder / Lynch in the job. You do need someone with the administrative skills to discipline scheming department lifers like Rod Rosenstein. Sessions wasn’t getting the job done, or wasn’t getting the job done without a great many performance gaps.

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