Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
Another week, another postponement. But I do think this article is important, and has implications far beyond its immediate subject – which I see as being “What good does it do to have an official in place to oversee government activity when the very person they are investigating has the power to fire them?” That is certainly an important question.
But an even bigger question with wider application, in my opinion, is this: There is no guarantee that an elected official will have integrity. Many people who lack it manage to coax enough votes from the electorate to get into office. There is also no guarantee that an appointed official will have integrity. Officials appointed by someone who lacks integrity will probably lack it also. Even a confirmation process – as we have seen – will not guarantee integrity on the part of officials appointed by someone who has none. How, then, should we design our processes to ensure the maximum possible integrity in officials?
There is an ongoing debate in America as to whether judges should be elected, or appointed – federal judges by the president, state ones by the governor. And, once appointed, to whom should they be accountable? Our different states and the federal government have come up with various answers, none of which is even close to perfect.
Then there is the matter of decennial redistricting after each census. Different states have different answers to this too – but it’s a similar problem. A redistricting should have integrity, just as an official should. Some states’ solutions work better than others. Perhaps looking at how states handle redistricting would give us some ideas, if not firm answers.
Perhaps if we can manage somehow to answer this question with regards to inspectors general, the answer may provide some assistance in answering it with regard to judges as well. I hope so. ================================================================
Congress may not like it when Trump fires an inspector general – but it can’t do anything to stop him
Executive departments and agencies – like the Departments of State or Defense – often butt heads with inspectors general over access to documents or investigation of high-ranking appointees. But Trump’s challenge is the broadest and the first to ground dismissals in response to investigations into his own conduct or the conduct of his administration.
Saving taxpayer money
The Inspector General Act of 1978 was one of the many post-Watergate government reforms. It aimed to increase government accountability and prevent waste, fraud and abuse in agencies and programs.
Whether ferreting out fraud in defense contracts, investigating Medicare scams or identifying government employees who submitted false expenses, inspectors general have played a major law enforcement role.
Beyond that power wielded by the president, inspectors general are independent. While they are under the “general supervision” of the head of the department or agency where they work, they do not report to and are not subject to supervision by any other officer in the government or agency.
In fact, the law says that “Neither the head of the establishment nor the officer next in rank below such head shall prevent or prohibit the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation, or from issuing any subpoena.”
The president must communicate in writing the reasons for removal of any inspector general. In the removal of the State Department inspector general, President Trump sent a terse letter to Congress, saying that he his reason for firing Linick was that he “no longer” had the “fullest confidence” in him.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a decades-long champion of the role of inspectors general, stated that a “general lack of confidence simply is not sufficient detail to satisfy Congress.”
Despite congressional uproar over these dismissals from Democrats and some Republicans, there is serious doubt about what conditions or limits Congress could place on the president’s power to remove the inspectors general.
Under Supreme Court precedents related to the principles of separation of power, Congress – one branch of government – cannot remove an official in the executive branch – another branch of government – except by impeachment. That has been interpreted to mean, by inference, that Congress has no power over the president’s ability to fire an executive branch official, including inspectors general.
For example, the law that created the position of inspectors general requires them to report immediately to their agency head when they become aware of particularly serious or flagrant problems, abuses or deficiencies in agency programs.
No president until Trump had asserted that by reporting findings to Congress, inspectors general were making unconstitutional intrusions into presidential and executive branch prerogative.
The president’s signing statement accompanying the CARES Act was dominated by objections that the legislation “violates the separation of powers by intruding upon the President’s power and duty to supervise the staffing of the executive branch.” Trump argued that he would not heed the CARES Act requirement that an inspector general report directly to Congress on the law’s administration. They would only do so, he wrote, under “presidential supervision.”
This argument – that as president, he is beyond accountability – echoes the claims Trump has raised as he fights congressional subpoenas for his tax returns and private records from his businesses in two cases argued before the Supreme Court recently.
Whatever answer the court delivers in those cases, it’s not likely to stop the president from firing another inspector general. And it doesn’t look like Congress has the power to stop him.
================================================================ Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, it is probably impossible to design a system which excludes all candidates (and systems) who lack integrity from public office. But surely we can do better than we have so far. If anyone knows integrity, dear Furies, it’s you. Please help us.