LogFAQs > #943513504

LordoftheMorons posted...

Well obviously this would be hugely different in scale, but Trump has broken the law with regards to his acting appointments in several instances, and some of those people are still there. I believe there are some ongoing legal battles about whether the actions those illegally installed officials enacted are nullified, but at minimum they've been able to do some damage in the meantime.

The courts are working through that, as you say. I don't think that's a clear cut issue. The way the constitution is structured, the executive power is vested in the President alone, and then flows from him to his servants. That's because no one in the executive branch is elected besides the President. They cannot have power independent of him because he is their only link to the sovereign (the People).

So, can the President delegate power to whomever he likes? Let's say the President wants to listen to advice from Rasputin, but the Senate thinks he's a fraud and refuses to confirm him as Secretary of State. Obviously the President can still listen to Rasputin and can still follow his advice. Does he have to personally approve Rasputin's directives though or can he just give a blanket order authorizing Rasputin to do whatever he wants (within the law) that the President has the authority to do?

Now, you could argue that this would destroy the meaning of having a confirmed cabinet at all. But that's sort of like saying the Roman Senate was superfluous because technically they didn't pass laws, only gave "advice" to magistrates. Custom and convention matters.

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September 1, 2003; November 4, 2007; September 2, 2013
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