Has many solemn duties to perform, among them is to “preserve,
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The Constitution of the United States was born by a
people who
had seen, firsthand, what a monarchy can do to it’s citizens; they
were determined to create a system of government that was of the people, by the
people, and for the people. Keeping this end in sight, they established three
equal but separate divisions of government: the Judicial, Legislative, and
Executive branches. The goal was to establish a system of checks and balances
that would keep the government on an equal basis, avoiding excesses and malfeasance
by the equal branches of government. (Most of us know this from our civics and
history classes in public schools.)
The Founding Fathers did not expect this triangular based
government to always, or even regularly, go smoothly, they envisioned there
would be disagreements between the branches, and within the branches; they had
faith, however, that even these disagreements would be settled out in a manner
that respected the views of all parties, even those in disagreement with the
final outcome. Over time, this excellent system has been improved, codified,
and strengthened, to the betterment of all Americans. The Founding Fathers
showed a group wisdom and intelligence far beyond what could have reasonably
been expected of them as individuals.
Our Founding Fathers were well aware of the results of
a monarchy
or dictatorship; that is, everyone who served in a government could
be removed from his or her position simply for disagreeing with the head of
government, regardless of the validity of the disagreement.
That same Constitution therefore provides that the President
shall
nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint
Officers of the United States, such as the Director of National Intelligence.
As of today, no less than 13 government departments
are headed by
“acting” leaders, as opposed to those who have been approved by
the Senate, as provided for in our constitution. These include: The Departments
of Labor and Homeland Security; The White House Chief of Staff, Director of the
Office of Management and Budget, the Director of National Intelligence, and the
Director of the Small Business Administration.
Still reading? Good. Other offices under “acting”
leadership
include OSHA, FDA, USCIS, CBP, FEMA, and ICE.
That’s right, my fellow citizens. Your on-the-job-safety,
drug safety and pureness, and the federal government’s emergency management
agency, are run by acting directors. Feeling a little worried? Don’t let me
stop you; the Directors of National Intelligence, Homeland Security, and
Immigration and Customs Enforcement are also “acting.” That’s right-our homeland
security, immigration, and national intelligence departments are run by acting
directors, who owe their office solely to President Trump, and have not been
vetted by the Senate.
And what qualifies the acting directors for their
particular
positions? To a person, they have demonstrated undying loyalty to
President Trump. Many had made financial contributions to the President’s initial
election campaign. They have, in the main, no knowledge of the departments they
head, nor do they share a past experience of managing large groups of employees.
Why have these positions been filled by acting
directors? The
President said, in an interview with the press, that he liked
acting directors. It allows him to move quickly.
I guess we found out yesterday what he meant by move
quickly.
When a DNI briefing to the House intelligence Committee reported that
Russia was again interfering in our electoral process, and that Russia
preferred Trump as the next President, the President angrily discarded his
acting DNI,( Joseph Maguire) and replaced him with another acting director, Richard
Grenell, who is currently the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Mr. Grenell has no
intelligence background, nor any experience leading a large government agency. His
sole attribute, if you will, is his unquestioning loyalty to President Trump.
This behavior-using unqualified acting heads of government
bodies- must come to a stop. It is up to the Senate, our elected officials, to
call a halt to the President’s flagrant disregard of Article II, Section 2,
Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, and demand the President submit qualified
individuals for “the advice and consent” of the Senate.
Thank you for reading; as always, your thoughts and
comments are
appreciated. Just click on the pencil in the white box below.
R.M. “Bob” Hartman
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