who can fire the attorney general of the united states?

Can a president fire an attorney general?

Jan 31, 2017 · The U.S. attorney general is appointed by the President of the United States and serves at the pleasure of the President. The President has the power to fire the attorney general. Who appoints the...

Who can fire the Special Counsel?

Aug 27, 2009 · The president can fire the attorney general. O bama administration spokesmen are portraying the president as unable to overrule Attorney …

Who has the authority to fire political appointees at the DOJ?

Jun 21, 2020 · It concluded that the president — but not the attorney general — could fire such an official. In a memorandum opinion, John M. Harmon, …

Does Trump have the authority to fire Attorney General Berman?

Berman, AG William Barr tells us, is "stepping down" (having done "an excellent job"), to be replaced by Jay Clayton of the SEC. No reasons have been given for …

Can a US 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.

Who does the US Attorney General report to?

President of the United StatesUnited States Attorney GeneralMember ofCabinet National Security CouncilReports toPresident of the United StatesSeatRobert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building Washington, D.C.AppointerPresident of the United States with United States Senate advice and consent13 more rows

Is the Attorney General approved by Congress?

The United States attorney general is the head of the U.S. Department of Justice. The position requires a presidential nomination and subsequent confirmation by the United States Senate.

Is the US Attorney General the head of the Department of Justice?

The Department of Justice – or “DOJ” – is the agency responsible for enforcing the federal law of the United States. The Attorney General of the United States – appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate – heads the DOJ with its more than 100,000 attorneys, special agents, and other staff.

Does the FBI report to the attorney general?

Within the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is responsible to the attorney general, and it reports its findings to U.S. Attorneys across the country. The FBI's intelligence activities are overseen by the Director of National Intelligence.

How is attorney general removed?

He can be removed by the President at any time. He can quit by submitting his resignation only to the President. Since he is appointed by the President on the advice of the Council of Ministers, conventionally he is removed when the council is dissolved or replaced.

Can the attorney general be fired by the president?

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. In the event of a vacancy, the United States Attorney General is authorized to appoint an interim U.S. Attorney.

How many attorney generals are there in the US?

Of the 50 Attorneys General, 25 do not have a formal provision specifying the number of terms allowed. Of the 44 elected attorneys general, all serve four-year terms with the exception of Vermont, who serves a two-year term. 11 face a two term limit, otherwise unspecified.

What power does the attorney general have?

The NSW Attorney General is the legal advisor to the Government of NSW. The Attorney General is responsible for representing the State and may act on its behalf in all legal proceedings in which the State is a party. preserves civil liberties.

Who runs the DOJ?

Attorney General GarlandAs the nation's chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Garland leads the Justice Department's 115,000 employees, who work across the United States and in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Who is the new US attorney general?

General Merrick B. GarlandAttorney General Merrick B. Garland was sworn in as the 86th Attorney General of the United States on March 11, 2021.

Is the CIA part of the Department of Justice?

Unlike the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is a domestic security service, the CIA has no law enforcement function and is officially mainly focused on overseas intelligence gathering, with only limited domestic intelligence collection.

Who was the prosecutor who refused to let the Attorney General fire him?

Barr invoked the president. Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, arrived at his office in New York on Saturday hours after defying the attorney general’s attempt to fire him.

Why did Berman call the Attorney General's Bluff?

attorney in Brooklyn, said Mr. Berman had “called the attorney general’s bluff” because only the president, not Mr. Barr, had the power to remove him.

What does Mr. Harmon argue about the power of the President?

Harmon also pointed to constitutional arguments to back his conclusion: U.S. attorneys exercise executive power, making the president responsible for the conduct of their offices, so the president “must have the power to remove one he believes is an unsuitable incumbent, regardless of who appointed him,” he wrote.

Why did Barr not fire him?

Barr could not fire him because he had been appointed by the court, and declared he intended to remain in office until the Senate confirms a successor. However, another federal law says that U.S. attorneys may be removed by the president. On its face, it makes no exception ...

How long can a prosecutor serve?

attorneys following Senate confirmation, a law permits an attorney general to appoint a prosecutor to fill those vacancies for 120 days. If that temporary appointment expires, judges can fill it. A prosecutor appointed by the court will “serve until the vacancy is filled,” the statute says.

What court opinion said a president may remove a court appointed prosecutor?

The 1979 opinion pointed to one district court opinion from 1963 — also in Manhattan — which expressed the view that a president may remove a court-appointed prosecutor. In his letter, Mr. Barr also pointed to a 2000 opinion by the federal appeals court in Boston that took the same position in passing, saying that a “president may override ...

What did Mr. Harmon write about due process?

Harmon wrote in 1979, it might violate constitutional protections for due process of law if judges overseeing cases as neutral arbiters had the power to fire prosecutors if the judges did not like how they handled their responsibilities.

Who is the US Attorney for SDNY?

Today brings word that President Trump, having summarily disposed of a number of pesky Inspectors General who had the temerity to do their jobs, has now had enough of his own appointment to the position of US Attorney for the SDNY, Geoffrey Berman.

Does the judiciary's integrity affect the method of appointment?

The judiciary's integrity is not affected, and the method of appointment does not violate the doctrine of separated powers…. Here, the power to appoint is tempered in ways that ensure the appointee's independence.

Is it enough for the AG to appoint a temporary successor?

It's not enough for the AG to appoint a temporary successor (Barr has purported to name Jay Clayton of the SEC to the position) and to say: "There—your appointment has ended because 'the vacancy is filled'. Clean out your desk and begone.".

Is Berman going anywhere?

Berman says that he's not going anywhere. Here's his position. He was named to the US Attorney position by then-AG Sessions in January 2018, to succeed Preet Bahrara (whom Trump had just fired). For some reason, though, Berman's name was never formally put forward for required Senate confirmation.

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".

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.

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 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.

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.

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.