“Ffs of course it mattered...who was going to take over as AG if Sessions resigned, some Obama holdover?”
Amazing how so few around here ever bothered to find out what options Trump has. And who still don’t have a clue about it for that matter.
The governing law is the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, (5 U.S.C. § 3345).
Trump had a number of options at his disposal and Congress could not have held him hostage by refusing to confirm his nominee, despite what the sky-is-falling crowd likes to believe.
He could make a recess appointment. He could move a Senate-confirmed officer over from another post. He could install a GS-15 for 210 days, and if the Senate refused to confirm he could extend the appointment, and if the Senate refused again he could extend again.
Trump wasn’t trapped. He used this very same law when he appointed Whitaker. He was trapped only in the imaginations of those who don’t bother to find out what the law has to say.
Amazing how so few around here ever bothered to find out what options Trump has. And who still don’t have a clue about it for that matter.
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Ooh. I guess we’re all not at brilliant as you are.
Even more amazing that you'd have Trump scrambling to find a replacement Attorney General (in addition to a replacement NSA) in his first 100 days in office.
He could move a Senate-confirmed officer over from another post
How many cabinet level officers had even been sworn in by the time Sessions recused in early March 2017, and how many of those would be a good fit at the Dept. of Justice?
He could make a recess appointment.
Congress wasn't going to recess for months, so that option was off the table.
He could install a GS-15 for 210 days
The most likely replacement scenario given the circumstances, and as a Washington DC outsider Trump would be at a huge disadvantage trying to choose a replacement from the professional ranks at DOJ, which were chock full of his enemies.
I can't think of a more effective way to hamstring a new administration than by having the Attorney General resign a month after taking office. The notion that you'd think this is an acceptable outcome or that Jeff Sessions is an honorable man is simply a reflection of your own poor judgment.