how often do presidents fired attorney general

Why were attorneys fired from the Department of Justice?

Critics said that the attorneys were fired for failing to prosecute Democratic politicians, for failing to prosecute claims of election fraud that would hamper Democratic voter registration, as retribution for prosecuting Republican politicians, or for failing to pursue adult obscenity prosecutions.

Who made up the list of eight prosecutors to be fired?

According to Newsweek, "Kyle Sampson, Gonzales's chief of staff, developed the list of eight prosecutors to be fired last October—with input from the White House". On November 27, 2006, Gonzales met with senior advisers to discuss the plan.

Was the firing of eight federal attorneys politically motivated?

Timeline: Behind the Firing of Eight U.S. Attorneys The Bush administration announced in December that it was replacing several federal prosecutors. The Democratic-controlled Congress has had hearings into whether the dismissals were politically motivated. Political furor has ensued. Follow events so far.

Can a president fire a general?

A journalist recently asked me whether a President could “fire” a general. The answer – pardon the pun – is generally, yes…but there are some legal complications.

Can the us President fire the us attorney general?

The President of the United States has the authority to appoint U.S. Attorneys, with the consent of the United States Senate, and the President may remove U.S. Attorneys from office.

Can the Attorney General be impeached?

Attorneys General. While impeachment proceedings against cabinet secretaries is an exceedingly rare event, no office has provoked the ire of the House of Representatives than that of Attorney General. During the first fifth of the 21st century, no less than three Attorneys General have been subjected to the process.

How long do US attorney generals serve?

four-yearUnder the state Constitution, the Attorney General is elected to a four-year term in the same statewide election as the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Controller, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Insurance Commissioner.

How to remove an Attorney General of usa?

United States that “the President has the exclusive authority to remove executive branch officials.” Subsequent court decisions narrowed this power somewhat for certain officials outside of the Cabinet. But few people doubt today that a President can remove a Cabinet officer.

How much does the Attorney General of the United States make?

Attorney General is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of US$221,400, as of January 2021.

Can a Supreme Court judge be removed from office?

The Constitution states that Justices "shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour." This means that the Justices hold office as long as they choose and can only be removed from office by impeachment. Has a Justice ever been impeached?

How many U.S. general attorneys are there?

Holder, Jr. is the current and 82nd United States Attorney General, serving under President Barack H. Obama. He is the first African-American United States Attorney General in history.

Who is above the district attorney?

In practice, district attorneys, who prosecute the bulk of criminal cases in the United States, answer to no one. The state attorney general is the highest law enforcement officer in state government and often has the power to review complaints about unethical and illegal conduct on the part of district attorneys.

What is the difference between Attorney General and Chief Justice?

In layman terms, Chief Justice is a Judge and Attorney General is a Lawyer, both have distinct roles to play. The Attorney General of India is the highest law officer of the country and he/she is the chief legal advisor to the GoI. He is responsible to assist the government in all its legal matters.

Who can the president not remove from office?

Congress, the Court ruled, could legally restrict the president's ability to remove anyone except "purely executive officers." Two decades later, after President Dwight Eisenhower dismissed Myron Wiener from the War Claims Commission, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the legal limits to the president's removal powers.

Can the president fire cabinets?

The members of the Cabinet serve at the pleasure of the president, who can dismiss them at any time without the approval of the Senate, as affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Myers v. United States (1926), or downgrade their Cabinet membership status.

What is the job of Attorney General?

The Attorney General for India is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and is its principal Advocate before the Supreme Court of India. They are appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and hold office during the pleasure of the President.

Why are emails about the firing of attorneys lost?

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel stated that some of the emails that had involved official correspondence relating to the firing of attorneys may have been lost because they were conducted on Republican party accounts and not stored properly. "Some official e-mails have potentially been lost and that is a mistake the White House is aggressively working to correct." said Stanzel, a White House spokesman. Stonzel said that they could not rule out the possibility that some of the lost emails dealt with the firing of U.S. attorneys. For example, J. Scott Jennings, an aide to Karl Rove communicated with Justice Department officials "concerning the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former Rove aide, as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, according to e-mails released in March, 2007. For that exchange, Jennings, although working at the White House, used an e-mail account registered to the Republican National Committee, where Griffin had worked as a political opposition researcher."

What did the change in the law do to the Attorney General?

The change in the law undermined the confirmation authority of the Senate and gave the Attorney General greater appointment powers than the President, since the President's U.S. Attorney appointees are required to be confirmed by the Senate and those of the Attorney General did not require confirmation.

What was the Inspector General Report on the 2008 firings?

On September 29, 2008 the Justice Department's Inspector General (IG) released a report on the matter that found most of the firings were politically motivated and improper.

What was the process used to fire the first seven attorneys and two others dismissed around the same time?

A subsequent report by the Justice Department Inspector General in October 2008 found that the process used to fire the first seven attorneys and two others dismissed around the same time was "arbitrary", "fundamentally flawed" and "raised doubts about the integrity of Department prosecution decisions".

Why were some of the attorneys targeted for dismissal?

Allegations were that some of the attorneys were targeted for dismissal to impede investigations of Republican politicians or that some were targeted for their failure to initiate investigations that would damage Democratic politicians or hamper Democratic-leaning voters.

What did the IG report say about the firings?

The IG's report contained "substantial evidence" that party politics drove a number of the firings, and IG Glenn Fine said in a statement that Gonzales had "abdicated his responsibility to safeguard the integrity and independence of the department.".

Why was Kevin Ryan fired?

Kevin Ryan (R) Though described as "loyal to the Bush administration," he was allegedly fired for the possible controversy that negative job performance evaluations might cause if they were released. John McKay (R) Was given a positive job evaluation 7 months before he was fired.

Who appointed Newbold Morris as the Attorney General?

Attorney General J. Howard McGrath, a former governor of and senator from Rhode Island, appointed Newbold Morris as a special assistant attorney general in the Justice Department to investigate corruption.

Who can determine if a prosecution would undermine national security?

The attorney general serves at the pleasure of the president, and the president can determine that a prosecution would undermine the national security—a subject on which he has a wider perspective and a greater responsibility than the attorney general—and order that it not go forward.

Can the President fire the Attorney General?

The president can fire the attorney general. O bama administration spokesmen are portraying the president as unable to overrule Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to have a special prosecutor determine whether to prosecute CIA interrogators who were cleared by Department of Justice career attorneys back in 2004.

When does the Attorney General have to resign?

Presidential transition[edit] It is the practice for the attorney general, along with the other Cabinet secretaries and high-level political appointees of the President, to tender a resignation with effect on the Inauguration Day(January 20) of a new president.

What is the job of the Attorney General?

The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United Stateson all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.

Who was the attorney general nominee for Clinton?

Gerson was fourth in the line of succession at the Justice Department, but other senior DOJ officials had already resigned.[14] Janet Reno, President Clinton's nominee for attorney general, was confirmed on March 12,[15]and he resigned the same day.

Who was the president who fired George McClellan?

The President caught W’s eye during the walk-and-talk, and the son responded with an affirming wink. 6. Biggest Historical Impact. Abraham Lincoln fired General George McClellan, who wrote to his wife: “There never was a truer epithet applied to a certain individual than that of the ‘Gorilla.’.

Who was the attorney general that subpoenaed Nixon's recordings?

Amid the Watergate investigation, Richard Nixon asked attorney general Elliot Richardson and his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who months earlier had subpoenaed Nixon’s Oval Office recordings. Both lawyers opted to resign instead. In the wake of what was dubbed the Saturday Night Massacre, ...

When did Reagan fire the Air Traffic Controllers?

In 1981 , Ronald Reagan fired 11,400 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization 48 hours after offering them an ultimatum: end their illegal strike or forfeit their jobs. The workers, seeking better pay and working conditions, were banned from federal employment.

Who was the president who convinced his dad to let him do the dirty work?

Photo by Life Images Collection/Getty Images. 5. Breakthrough Performance. George W. Bush convinced his President-dad to let him do the dirty work when it was time to fire chief of staff John Sununu in 1991.

Who replaced Douglas MacArthur?

Biggest Turnaround. On April 11, 1951, Harry S. Truman replaced popular general Douglas MacArthur with General Matthew Ridgway over what Truman called MacArthur’s “rank insubordination” during the Korean War. Enjoying a hero’s welcome back home, MacArthur was invited to speak to a joint session of Congress.

When were the US attorneys fired?

Fired U.S. Attorneys: A Who's Who April 15, 2007. The Bush administration fired seven U.S. attorneys on a single day last December. After Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in January, they began hearings into whether those dismissals — as well as an earlier one, in June 2006 — were politically motivated.

How many attorneys were fired from the White House?

In response to congressional inquiries, the Department of Justice released a series of internal communications — including e-mails with White House staff — that preceded the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

Who replaced Gonzales as Attorney General?

February 2005: Harriet Miers, who has replaced Gonzales as White House counsel, suggests that all 93 U.S. attorneys be replaced. Feb. 14, 2005: Gonzales is sworn in as attorney general of the United States.

Who said "I don't accept his offer"?

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy responds, "I don't accept his offer.". March 26, 2007: The Justice Department's White House liaison and senior counselor to Gonzales, Monica Goodling, says she will invoke her Fifth Amendment right not to respond to questions from Congress about the U.S. attorney dismissals.

When did the Justice Department send documents to Capitol Hill?

March 13, 2007: The Justice Department sends documents to Capitol Hill detailing the correspondence between White House and Justice Department officials over the U.S. attorneys issue. Gonzales insists that he will not resign amid calls for his ouster.

When did the President have the power to dismiss military officers?

A little history: up until the end of the Civil War, the President exercised virtually unconstrained power to dismiss military officers. However, in 1865 Congress passed legislation which purports to limit that power. That legislation was essentially the same as that found today codified in 10 USC § 1161 (a).

What is the time of war?

The Manual for Courts-Martial (itself authorized by law) defines “time of war” in its Rules for Court-Martial (RCM) Rule 103 (19) to mean: “a period of war declared by Congress or the factual determination by the President that the existence of hostilities warrants a finding that a ‘time of war’ exists… .”.

Can a three star general be dismissed?

In any event, if an officer (especially one who had been a three or four-star general) is relieved from his or her position and reverts to the lower rank of major general and still refuses to request retirement, the President may be able to dismiss the officer from the armed forces entirely.

Is the time of war a statute?

Although the phrase “time of war” is used in many U.S. statutes, there is no universally accepted definition of precisely what it means. Some court decisions indicate it means war when declared by Congress, and some statutes do use the phrase the “time of war declared by Congress .” (Italics added.)

Is a dismissal a punitive discharge?

The substitution of an administrative discharge for a “dismissal” is significant because a dismissal is a punitive discharge for an officer (it’s the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge for an enlisted person). A dismissal would extinguish almost all veterans’ benefits, as well as rights to military retirement pay.

Who is Jeff Sessions' former chief of staff?

Jeff Sessions' former chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, now the acting attorney general, has in the past publicly criticized the Special Counsel's probe. Alex Wong/Getty Images, FILE.

What did Whitaker say about Sessions?

Whitaker in a statement called Sessions as a dedicated public servant and said he is committed to leading the Justice Department with the "highest ethical standards.". "It is a true honor that the President has confidence in my ability to lead the Department of Justice as Acting Attorney General. I am committed to leading a fair Department with ...

What role did Sessions play in Alabama?

Sessions parlayed that support to become attorney general, a role he held at the state level in Alabama. The president's priorities and Sessions' mirrored each other. Both tough on immigration, the opioid crisis, and crime, both men have a pro-law enforcement perspective.

Why did Sessions send more judges and prosecutors to the southern border?

Sessions also sent more judges and prosecutors to the southern border to help with processing illegal border crossers. AP. In his resignation letter, Sessions described restoring and upholding the "rule of law" as his most important legacy as attorney general.

When did Jeff Sessions speak at the 8th District Conference?

Attorney General Jeff Sessions waits to speak at the Eighth Judicial District Conference, Aug. 17, 2018, in Des Moines, Iowa. Following Sessions' resignation, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Whitaker to recuse himself from the probe. "Given his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on ...

Who is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee?

15, 2017. Rep. Jerry Nadler , the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, also called for accountability.

Does Whitaker need to be sworn in?

A DOJ spokeswoman said that Whitaker does not need to be sworn in and is therefore already the acting attorney general. Tensions developed between Trump and Sessions in March 2017, when Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein took over.

Overview

Reactions and congressional investigation

The initial reaction was from the senators of the affected states. In a letter to Gonzales on January 9, 2007, Senators Feinstein (D, California) and Leahy (D, Vermont; Chair of the Committee) of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed concern that the confirmation process for U.S. attorneys would be bypassed, and on January 11, they, together with Senator Pryor (D, Arkansas), introduced legislation "to prevent circumvention of the Senate's constitutional prerogative to con…

Issues in brief

Fallout

Replacement of the U.S. Attorneys

Aftermath

See also

Notes