Biden today fired the head of the Social Security Administration, Andrew Saul, a Trump holdover whose fixed term was not due to expire until 2025. Saul is claiming that Biden has no authority to fire him because statutorily the SSA Commissioner is appointed for a fixed six-year term, and he plans to show up to work on Monday.
Biden is almost certainly correct, however, due to a couple of Supreme Court rulings recently that found that statutes protecting the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Housing Finance Agency from removal were unconstitutional breaches of separation of powers. Biden removed the later the very day the court ruled. There’s no significant difference between the SSA and those agencies in this regard.
Biden is also certainly correct because the admin sought an opinion from the OLC, who yesterday said, “Go ahead, Joe.”
FYI, Saul’s firing offense was refusing to provide the IRS with information needed to send SS recipients stimulus checks authorized under the ARP law passed in March.
Yes, based on the Supreme Court precedents I cited. Ultimately all OLC can offer is an opinion, and Saul could still challenge the action in court. But the SC is pretty clearly disposed against Congressional attempts to shield executive branch appointees from removal through things like statutorily-fixed terms, requirements that removal be “for cause,” etc.
I’m actually a bit ambivalent on this. These kinds of protections are usually given to leaders of agencies that you want to have some independence from the political process because they serve an investigative or quasi-judicial function. Biden’s using his authority to clean house of odious Trump appointees, but the next guy will be able to do the same to his. Maybe that’s for the best but it makes me a little queasy.
Because Trump got duped into appointing a decent FBI director. He tried to fire Wray during his term but backed down when even Bob Barr threatened to resign if he did.
I haven’t heard any particularly persuasive reasons why Wray should be fired (no reasons at all, actually), and I’m sure Biden doesn’t want to needlessly do so and then draw unfavorable comparisons to his predecessor and Comey.
But secondly the problem with being a whore is everyone assumes you are up for anything, when the fact is most people have some lines they won’t cross. Unless you are a full-on sociopath and William Barr does not appear to be. He was at least somewhat respected, if very conservative, before he took the Trump appointment. But as that wiki notes his personal philosophy is one in which presidents should have near absolute authority over the executive branch. A philosophy Trump obviously found attractive. And Barr’s tendencies when he served under H.W. Bush fit in with what Trump wanted in an AG.
But Barr had lines, even if not nearly enough for anyone not named Trump:
Barr had a pretty good rep coming out of the first Bush Administration, from his first stint at AG - but it’s all in tatters now, having stood with Twitler, and the man’s headlong attack on the Constitution, as long as he did. But better late than never.
I think anyone who takes out that much money for college loans is nuts. Actually, considering the amount I took out to complete grad school, I’m probably a bit nutso myself. But triple digit debt is insane – unless you’re graduating with a Harvard MBA or Yale Law, and even then, there are no guarantees.
