U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson Rules the Bureaucracy Controls the Executive Branch, Not the President
Not unexpectedly, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has ruled that unelected bureaucrat, Hampton Dellinger, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel head has more unilateral power within the executive branch of government than President Donald Trump. [RULING pdf HERE]
This ruling stems from the same mindset as former AG Bill Barr, former FBI Director James Comey, former Deputy AG Sally Yates, former IC Inspector General Michael Atkinson, and the entire organization of professional Lawfare activists that includes Mary McCord, Andrew Weissmann and Norm Eisen. The collective belief is that in the modern “continuity of government” framework, the bureaucracy of government controls things, not the elected and plenary President.
Basic constitutional civics has been destroyed in the modern era by progressive advocacy saying the executive branch is an omnipotent organism that is not controlled by the duly elected President of the United States. Current Lawfare activists and activist judges seek to retain this bastardized view of constitutional government.
Let us hope the Supreme Court finally puts an end to decades of this ridiculous nonsense. The earlier ruling in the Presidential Immunity decision indicates SCOTUS is positioned to do exactly that.
(Via POLITICO) – A federal judge ruled Saturday that President Donald Trump’s firing of a federal workforce watchdog was illegal — teeing up a Supreme Court showdown over the president’s claim to nearly absolute control of the executive branch.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson concluded that Hampton Dellinger — confirmed last year as head of the Office of Special Counsel — may continue to serve his five-year term despite Trump’s effort to remove him from the post via a brusque email last month.
Jackson ruled that Dellinger’s duties, which include holding executive branch officials accountable for ethics breaches and fielding whistleblower complaints, were meant to be independent from the president, making the position a rare exception to the president’s generally vast domain over the executive branch.
Dellinger’s “independence is inextricably intertwined with the performance of his duties,” Jackson wrote in a 67-page opinion. “The elimination of the restrictions on plaintiff’s removal would be fatal to the defining and essential feature of the Office of Special Counsel as it was conceived by Congress and signed into law by the President: its independence. The Court concludes that they must stand.”
[…] Less than an hour after Jackson ruled, the Justice Department appealed her decision to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. (more)
It’s worth remembering, the basic construct of Lawfare is not necessarily to win the final legal challenges – Lawfare is designed to shape public opinion, impede the target and advance an adversarial narrative.
