4 hours ago · FILE — Former President Donald Trump speaks from the podium during a campaign rally, May 1, 2022, in Greenwood, Neb. A lawyer for the New York attorney general's office said Friday, May 13, 2022 ...
May 11, 2022 · Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has a 27-point lead in the Texas Attorney General Republican primary runoff election, according to a recent poll. Paxton is polling at 58 percent, compared to Texas land commissioner George P. Bush’s 31 percent. JUST IN: Trump-Backed Ken Paxton leads George P. Bush by 27 points: CWS Research Poll.
1 day ago · Exit Full Screen. The morning after Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced he'll run for governor next year, former U.S. attorney Russell Coleman announced he'll go for Cameron's job ...
President-elect Trump announced his first post-election Cabinet nominee, Jeff Sessions for the role of United States Attorney General, on November 18, 2016. (Trump had earlier announced Mike Pence as his pick for vice-presidential running mate in July 2016, which was shortly thereafter confirmed by the delegates to the Republican National Convention when they …
United States Attorney General | |
---|---|
Incumbent Merrick Garland since March 11, 2021 | |
United States Department of Justice | |
Style | Mr. Attorney General (informal) The Honorable (formal) |
Member of | Cabinet National Security Council |
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.
The title "attorney general" is an example of a noun (attorney) followed by a postpositive adjective(general).[8]". General" is a description of the type of attorney, not a title or rank in itself (as it would be in the military).[8]
William Barr, a former U.S. Attorney General in the George H. W. Bush administration, was nominated to reprise his former role as the permanent replacement for Sessions. He was confirmed by the Senate in February 2019 by a 54–45 vote. Barr announced that he would resign as attorney general on December 14, 2020, which came into effect on December 23, 2020.
Donald Trump assumed office as President of the United States on January 20, 2017, and his term ended on January 20, 2021. The President has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution . Before confirmation and during congressional ...
On March 13, 2018, Trump dismissed Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, and announced his nomination of CIA Director Mike Pompeo to the office. Pompeo was confirmed by the Senate on April 26 in a 57–42 vote and was sworn in later that day. He served until the end of Trump's term, on January 20 2021.
One of Donald Trump's first acts as president was the approval of Mattis's waiver to become Secretary of Defense. After being confirmed by the Senate on the evening of January 20, 2017, by a vote of 98–1, Mattis was sworn in by Vice President Pence on the same evening.
Despite being nominated promptly during the transition period, most cabinet members were unable to take office on Inauguration Day because of delays in the formal confirmation process. By February 8, 2017, President Trump had fewer cabinet nominees confirmed than any prior president two weeks into his mandate, except George Washington. Part of the lateness was ascribed to opposition by Senate Democrats and part to delays in submitting background-check paperwork. The final initial Cabinet member to take office, Robert Lighthizer, took office as U.S. Trade Representative on May 11, 2017, more than four months after his nomination.
The Vice President is the only cabinet member to be elected to the position and who does not serve at the pleasure of the President. There were dozens of potential running mates for Trump who received media speculation. Trump's eventual pick of Governor Mike Pence of Indiana was officially announced on July 16, 2016, and confirmed by acclamation via parliamentary procedure amongst delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016.
Trump announced the selection of investment banker Steve Mnuchin as Secretary of the Treasury on November 30, 2016. The New York Times noted that Mnuchin's selection was surprising, since Trump had attacked the banking industry and Goldman Sachs during the campaign. Mnuchin is the third Goldman alumnus to serve as treasury secretary.
This law prohibits anyone who "incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto." In the first place, this law has almost never been invoked. The leading precedent on the statute comes from a case from 1863!
This law bans "attempts to deprive or defraud residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by . [the] tabulation of ballots known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent." Under this theory, by instructing his attorney general to say there was fraud in Georgia, Trump committed this crime.
This law makes it a crime to corruptly obstruct, influence or impede any official proceeding or attempt to do so. Once more, the issue would be intent -- here reflected in the word "corruptly." In his January 6 speech, Trump encouraged the crowd to march to Capitol Hill but he did not explicitly encourage violence.
The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity. The president himself is explicitly exempt from the strictures of the Hatch Act, but could be charged with the provision that makes it "unlawful for any person to intimidate, threaten, command, or coerce" a federal employee to "engage in ...
This broad provision, much loved by prosecutors, makes it a crime to "conspire to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States." The first part of this law runs into the same problem as the specific statutes noted above -- that it's difficult to prove an underlying crime.
Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789 which, among other things, established the Office of the Attorney General. The original duties of this officer were "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the president of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments". Some of these duties have since been transferred to the U…
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. The deputy attorney general is also expected to tender a resignation, but is commonly requested to stay on and act as the attorney general pending the confirmation by the Senate of the new attorney general.
U.S.C. Title 28, §508 establishes the first two positions in the line of succession, while allowing the attorney general to designate other high-ranking officers of the Department of Justice as subsequent successors. Furthermore, an Executive Order defines subsequent positions, the most recent from March 31, 2017, signed by President Donald Trump. The current line of succession is:
1. United States Deputy Attorney General
• Executive Order 13787 for "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice"