Page 2 - Vacancy Act News Today

>> he asked for resignation. didnt let him stay till the end to have week. paul: not great treatment. >> he may well have had statutory authority to have appointed matt whitaker who had been in senior position. paul: chief of staff to jeff sessions. >> had been there more than 90 days which is magic term under the statute, there in fact, two statutes, one is the act which specify that is the president can appoint in a couple of ways, one of which would involve appointing somebody in matt whitake...

Who reports directly to the president. the attorney general reports directly to the president. the administrations view is they filled the position in a temporary way through whats called the vacancy act. even the vacancy act seems to require somebody with some kind of senate confirmation. they are saying, well, because he was confirmed by the senate to be a u.s. attorney many years ago, that counts. i think thats kind of dubious. i think were kind of in a race though. i dont think whitaker base...

>> and hes tied to florida governor rick scott. >> no. >> that is someone else. >> but this is an ideologue who believes in a strong president and would put restraints on mueller because his role is to supervision the investigation. >> could he file mueller. >> in theory, he could. and there is a scarier possibility this ad call -- the act called the vacancy act to allowing the president to put in place anyone confirmed by the senate. so in theory, the president could put ben carson -- there is ...

We think that this move is clearly supported by a plain reading of the vacancy act, the vacancy act is long established, used by presidents of both parties as a routine function and we believe this act is consistent with that long established practice. and according to another administration official, the justice departments office of legal counsel has already signed off on mulvaneys appointment, while a senior white house official said the administration hopes the dispute does not end up in cou...

2008. >> i think congress has a role and function you elected by the people. we are not creating agencies accountable to the american people and thats what weve done with cfpb. mick mulvaney will do a good job for consumers but also free market so were no longer killing jobs in our country. train to us to talk about this monday morning, who thats the parking spot? >> we believe the vacancy act is pretty clear that the president gets to appoint his successor and mick mulvaney will lead the cfpb u...

>> reporter: one of the architects of the agency, senator elizabeth warren, argued that the president was overstepping his bounds, and not following the law. in a tweet, she cited dodd frank legislation which states that the deputy director of the cfpb would serve as acting director in the absence or unavailability of the director. on saturday, the white house cited a different law, the federal vacancies reform act of 1998, to defend the appointment as a routine move. a senior white house offici...

Consumer finance protection agency? two leaders have been appointed. richard cordray tapped his successor before he stepped down. he chose leeann distinguienglis. >> what is president trump saying? >> the white house defended the presidents ability to make this decision saying that because of the vacancy act of 1998 that gives the president broad authority that hes acting within the presidents capacity to do this. there is arguments being made within the structure of that agency, there is protoc...

Where this could actually play into an obstruction issue, to be trying to push sessions out, which could lead to the firing of rod rosenstein, which could lead to a domino effect that would affect the mueller probe? >> well, i think that this theory is alive and well, and i think were going to have to wait and see what mueller finds. but if i understand what mr. cohen has said, the president directed him to essentially commit a felony. and thats obstruction of justice. so were going to have to w...

A vacancy, meaning if there is an unavailable -- or hes absent in some way the director of the cfpb, then the deputy director shall take over and hold the reign reins. thats the word shall. its important because that means its supposed to happen. you also have the federal vaccinecies act that says, well, if the president has his drugts he can decide who is is going to fill any vacancy. the boolt attle is whether a red director resolves an absence or availability. this is semantics people. then t...