Mary Mostert
Senate votes to curb Bush's constitutional power
By Mary Mostert
So far, it appears, the firing of eight attorneys by the Bush Attorney General has created far more news than the firing of ninety-three attorneys by Clinton attorney general Janet Reno in 1993. It also has produced a piece of legislation designed to reduce the President's powers under the US Constitution.
For those who have forgotten that 1993 event, or were infants at the time, Judge Robert Bork described what occurred as follows:
"Reno suddenly fired all 93 U.S. attorneys. She said the decision had been made in conjunction with the White House. Translation: The President ordered it. Just as the best place to hide a body is on a battlefield, the best way to be rid of one potentially troublesome attorney is to fire all of them.
The U.S. attorney in Little Rock was replaced by a Clinton protege. The long-running Waco emergency that culminated in the deaths of eighty Branch Davidian men, women, and children again proved that Janet Reno was not in charge in the Justice Department. Webster Hubbell, Hillary's former law partner in Little Rock and Bill's man at Justice, coordinated tactics with the White House. The President did not even talk to his attorney general throughout the crisis.
"Scandal followed scandal. Clinton had hardly been sworn in when he fired the entire staff of the White House travel office. The object, it seems clear, was to divert business to friends of the Clintons. The firings were so obviously unsupportable that the FBI was told to issue a press release suggesting criminality in the travel office. The head of the office was indicted and tried, but acquitted almost instantly. An inquiry suggested that Hillary Clinton ordered the coup. Then it was discovered that the White House had asked for and received nine hundred raw FBI files on Republicans.
Nobody knew who had issued the request or hired the unqualified security officer who carried it out. The evidence pointed to Hillary, but she denied responsibility. If her denials were false, she probably committed indictable offenses. Janet Reno sat on her hands until she got all these matters out of her bailiwick by handing them off to the independent counsel."
Now here we are, 14 years later, with a well orchestrated political and media campaign designed to force Attorney General Gonzales (our first Hispanic Attorney General, by the way) to resign. This appears to be an effort to permit the Democrats to block any nomination President George W. Bush may make for replacements.
Today, March 20, 2007 the US Senate suddenly passed Senate bill S 214,which was introduced in by Democrat Diane Feinstein and is designed to give unelected judges the power the Constitution gives only to the President of the United States. Feinstein claims that S214 is only "To amend chapter 35 of title 28, United States Code, to preserve the independence of United States attorneys.
Only, it appears to me to do the exact opposite of that. What it really does is turn over to unelected judges the authority our founding fathers carefully kept out of the hands of unelected folks like kings, queens, and appointed judges.
The current law, in Title 28, section 546 on filling vacancies reads as follows:
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the Attorney General may appoint a United States attorney for the district in which the office of United States attorney is vacant.
(b) The Attorney General shall not appoint as United States attorney a person to whose appointment by the President to that office the Senate refused to give advice and consent.
(c) A person appointed as United States attorney under this section may serve until the earlier of-
(1) the qualification of a United States attorney for such district appointed by the President under section 541 of this title; or (2) the expiration of 120 days after appointment by the Attorney General under this section.
(d) If an appointment expires under subsection (c)(2), the district court for such district may appoint a United States attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled. The order of appointment by the court shall be filed with the clerk of the court.
Article 2, Section 2 (http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_transcript.html) of the US Constitution gives the president the power to "appoint 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 Feinstein Bill eliminates the Constitutional authority of the President through the Attorney General he nominated and the senate approved to fire attorneys on his staff and gives that power to an unelected judge who would have no actual knowledge concerning personnel matters in the Justice Department. The new section 546 states:
'Sec. 546. Vacancies
"The United States district court for a district in which the office of the United States attorney is vacant may appoint a United States attorney to serve until that vacancy is filled. The order of appointment by the court shall be filed with the clerk of the court."
I have been told by a source in the Senate that S214 passed by a vote of 98-0. That means both Democrats and Republicans have voted to undermine the US Constitution. Since I really don't think most Senators, particularly my senators, Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett, are that hostile to or ignorant of the Constitution, why would they vote for it?
I suspect this piece of legislation has slipped through the cracks by its deceptive title and description: It does "amend chapter 35 of title 28, United States Code" but it does not "preserve the independence of United States attorneys."
Do we really want the US Justice Department attorneys to be totally independent of the oversight and management of the people we elect — the president and our members of Congress — and appointed by judges who invent things like same-sex marriage and a civil right to kill unborn children?
Hopefully, the House of Representatives will not be easily deceived as our esteemed senators — and if they are, surely President Bush will veto S214.
© Mary Mostert
So far, it appears, the firing of eight attorneys by the Bush Attorney General has created far more news than the firing of ninety-three attorneys by Clinton attorney general Janet Reno in 1993. It also has produced a piece of legislation designed to reduce the President's powers under the US Constitution.
For those who have forgotten that 1993 event, or were infants at the time, Judge Robert Bork described what occurred as follows:
"Reno suddenly fired all 93 U.S. attorneys. She said the decision had been made in conjunction with the White House. Translation: The President ordered it. Just as the best place to hide a body is on a battlefield, the best way to be rid of one potentially troublesome attorney is to fire all of them.
The U.S. attorney in Little Rock was replaced by a Clinton protege. The long-running Waco emergency that culminated in the deaths of eighty Branch Davidian men, women, and children again proved that Janet Reno was not in charge in the Justice Department. Webster Hubbell, Hillary's former law partner in Little Rock and Bill's man at Justice, coordinated tactics with the White House. The President did not even talk to his attorney general throughout the crisis.
"Scandal followed scandal. Clinton had hardly been sworn in when he fired the entire staff of the White House travel office. The object, it seems clear, was to divert business to friends of the Clintons. The firings were so obviously unsupportable that the FBI was told to issue a press release suggesting criminality in the travel office. The head of the office was indicted and tried, but acquitted almost instantly. An inquiry suggested that Hillary Clinton ordered the coup. Then it was discovered that the White House had asked for and received nine hundred raw FBI files on Republicans.
Nobody knew who had issued the request or hired the unqualified security officer who carried it out. The evidence pointed to Hillary, but she denied responsibility. If her denials were false, she probably committed indictable offenses. Janet Reno sat on her hands until she got all these matters out of her bailiwick by handing them off to the independent counsel."
Now here we are, 14 years later, with a well orchestrated political and media campaign designed to force Attorney General Gonzales (our first Hispanic Attorney General, by the way) to resign. This appears to be an effort to permit the Democrats to block any nomination President George W. Bush may make for replacements.
Today, March 20, 2007 the US Senate suddenly passed Senate bill S 214,which was introduced in by Democrat Diane Feinstein and is designed to give unelected judges the power the Constitution gives only to the President of the United States. Feinstein claims that S214 is only "To amend chapter 35 of title 28, United States Code, to preserve the independence of United States attorneys.
Only, it appears to me to do the exact opposite of that. What it really does is turn over to unelected judges the authority our founding fathers carefully kept out of the hands of unelected folks like kings, queens, and appointed judges.
The current law, in Title 28, section 546 on filling vacancies reads as follows:
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the Attorney General may appoint a United States attorney for the district in which the office of United States attorney is vacant.
(b) The Attorney General shall not appoint as United States attorney a person to whose appointment by the President to that office the Senate refused to give advice and consent.
(c) A person appointed as United States attorney under this section may serve until the earlier of-
(1) the qualification of a United States attorney for such district appointed by the President under section 541 of this title; or (2) the expiration of 120 days after appointment by the Attorney General under this section.
(d) If an appointment expires under subsection (c)(2), the district court for such district may appoint a United States attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled. The order of appointment by the court shall be filed with the clerk of the court.
Article 2, Section 2 (http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_transcript.html) of the US Constitution gives the president the power to "appoint 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 Feinstein Bill eliminates the Constitutional authority of the President through the Attorney General he nominated and the senate approved to fire attorneys on his staff and gives that power to an unelected judge who would have no actual knowledge concerning personnel matters in the Justice Department. The new section 546 states:
'Sec. 546. Vacancies
"The United States district court for a district in which the office of the United States attorney is vacant may appoint a United States attorney to serve until that vacancy is filled. The order of appointment by the court shall be filed with the clerk of the court."
I have been told by a source in the Senate that S214 passed by a vote of 98-0. That means both Democrats and Republicans have voted to undermine the US Constitution. Since I really don't think most Senators, particularly my senators, Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett, are that hostile to or ignorant of the Constitution, why would they vote for it?
I suspect this piece of legislation has slipped through the cracks by its deceptive title and description: It does "amend chapter 35 of title 28, United States Code" but it does not "preserve the independence of United States attorneys."
Do we really want the US Justice Department attorneys to be totally independent of the oversight and management of the people we elect — the president and our members of Congress — and appointed by judges who invent things like same-sex marriage and a civil right to kill unborn children?
Hopefully, the House of Representatives will not be easily deceived as our esteemed senators — and if they are, surely President Bush will veto S214.
© Mary Mostert
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