Dianne Feinstein. Senator. Judiciary Committee Proposal to Restore Constitutional Provisions taken away by Patriot Act.
US Senator Feinstein realizes that the Bush administration is end-running the Constitution’s appointment process, which requires Senate confirmation for officers of the United States (including U.S. attorneys). The president is now bypassing the Constitution’s appointments process by firing U.S. attorney, then having the attorney general name an interim appointee, and then simply refraining from submitting a nominee to the senate for confirmation
Do you get the scam? The law use to require the Senate to approve nominees (to everything), Now Bush can just do it himself.
“Enshrined in the Constitution, the confirmations process is a significant source of senatorial power no matter who the president is. Practically speaking, confirmation is what compels a president of either party to consult senators rather than just peremptorily installing the president’s own people.”
As US Senator Feinstein correctly points out, the Patriot Act reauthorization did change prior law. Previously, under the federal code (Title 28, Section 546), if the position of district U.S. attorney became vacant, it could be filled for up to 120 days by an interim appointee selected by the attorney general. What would happen at the end of that 120-day period, if a new appointee (who would likely also be the interim appointee) had not yet been appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate? The old law said the power to appoint an interim U.S. attorney would then shift to the federal district court, whose appointee would serve until the president finally got his own nominee confirmed.
US Senator Feinstein has proposed a substitute amendment to USC TITLE 28 > PART II > CHAPTER 35 > § 541 to fix the problem, stop the Bush abuse, and restore the proper procedure that use to be in our Constitution.
She’s our hero of the week.
It seems we need more and more of them every day to end this White House’s madness, greed, corruption, violence and lies.
The problems and now even the solutions are beyond words.
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