"On the [government's] reading, the president would have had no need ever to seek the Senate's advice and consent for his [US attorney] appointments. Whenever there was a fair prospect of the Senate's rejecting his preferred nominee, the president could have appointed that individual unilaterally to serve ad infinitum. It is unthinkable that such an obvious means for the executive to expand its power would have been overlooked by Congress."
"Federal judge Matthew Brann said Bondi's actions repeated the same error of bypassing congressional approval for the appointments. He stopped short of ordering their removal pending a government appeal but, in a blistering 130-page ruling, said overreach by the executive branch could jeopardise all of its cases before him."
Federal Judge Matthew Brann ruled that three prosecutors appointed by US Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead New Jersey's attorney general's office were illegally appointed without Senate confirmation. The three prosecutors—Jordan Fox, Ari Fontecchio, and Philip Lamparello—were installed to replace Alina Habba, who resigned after courts found her appointment illegal. Bondi split the attorney general position into three roles to circumvent Senate approval requirements. Judge Brann issued a 130-page ruling criticizing executive branch overreach, warning that such actions could jeopardize all government cases before him. He stopped short of ordering their removal pending appeal but emphasized that bypassing congressional approval violates constitutional requirements for executive appointments.
#illegal-appointments #senate-confirmation #executive-overreach #constitutional-law #trump-administration
Read at www.theguardian.com
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