United States Attorneys are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate for a four-year term. See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 541. Upon expiration of this term, the United States Attorney continues to perform the duties of the office until a successor is confirmed. United States Attorneys are subject to removal at the will of the President. See Parsons v. United States, 167 U.S. 314 (1897).
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
US Attorneys Serve "at the Will of the President"
Worth remembering:
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4 comments:
Yes, but:
"In the previous quarter-century, according to the Congressional Research Service, no more than five and perhaps only two U.S. attorneys, out of 486 appointed by a president and confirmed by the Senate, have been similarly forced out—in the middle of a presidential term for reasons not related to misconduct."
http://www.slate.com/id/2161804/nav/tap1/
That he can do it is a different consideration than the propriety of having done it.
Best case scenario - it was a ham-handed political hack job. Surely they must have had the foresight to know that this would be evident. Oh wait, I forgot about Iraq. Foresight, clearly not the Administration's strong suit.
Well, we still don't know the reasons stated internally for the dismissals. There had been quite some dissatisfaction with a number of them, after all. Maybe those reasons are reasonable.
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