Questioning the Presidential Authority to Dismiss Congressional Appointments

Presidents of the United States have the authority to nominate ambassadors, counsels, and federal judges, among others, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. The president of the United States does NOT have the authority to fire anyone who requires the advice and consent of the Senate because the Constitution does not give him that authority, which raises the interesting question of who does have the authority to fire federal judges, U.S. Attorneys, Inspector Generals or anyone else who has been appointed to their positions by the advice and consent of the Senate.

The answer to that question, interestingly enough, is that the power to remove bad actors in these positions actually rests solely on Congress, with the House of Representatives being responsible for levying the indictments and the Senate being responsible for trying the cases and rendering verdicts.

The practice of allowing presidents to fire Congressional Appointments is an arrogation of power by the occupants of the presidency, and a failure of the Congress of the United States to oppose presidents who have encroached upon their special province.

The SPECIFIC reason that the founders set up this mechanism was to PREVENT presidents from appointing their cronies to positions that would enable the cronies to protect the presidents who appointed them from the consequences of their illegal actions.

In our present circumstances, with a president who has committed numerous impeachable offenses, and who continues to do so under the protection of a Republican Congress and a Republican federal judiciary, it is now obvious that certain positions, such as U.S. Attorneys and Inspectors General of various departments, should not be under the direct control of the president of the United States.

It will require a Constitutional amendment to fix this problem. Until it is fixed, the United States cannot be categorized as a democratic republic, nor has it ever been a democratic republic, except in our collective imagination.