Who Fills In When Federal Jobs Are Vacant?

Stanford’s Anne Joseph O’Connell examines who can step in when a top federal position is vacant and what recent court decisions could mean for how those positions are filled.  ---- When a top federal position is vacant, someone still has to run the office. But who gets to step in, and what powers can they exercise while the position remains unfilled? Those questions are at the center of recent legal disputes over how the federal government operates when permanent officials are not yet in place. In this episode, Stanford Law School Professor Anne Joseph O’Connell, a leading scholar of administrative law and the federal bureaucracy, joins host Professor Pam Karlan to discuss the rules governing temporary officials and the way federal agencies are organized and staffed. O’Connell and Karlan examine recent disputes over U.S. attorneys and what happens when the usual process for putting a permanent leader in place does not happen quickly. They discuss how courts have interpreted the rules for temporary officials and what those decisions could mean for other federal agencies and future administrations. The conversation also considers how much authority the president has over the people who work for him and where the law draws the line. Links: Anne Joseph O'Connell >>> Stanford Law School page Pulte’s Appointment Shows Flaws in the Vacancies Act >>> Stanford Law School page Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Strategy of Picking U.S. Attorneys  >>> Stanford Law School page Can the President Appoint Principal Officers Without the Senate? >>> Lawfare page Bureaucracy’s Boundaries >>> Lawfare page Connect: Episode Transcripts >>> Stanford Legal Podcast Website Stanford Legal Podcast >>> LinkedIn Page Rich Ford >>>  Twitter/X Pam Karlan >>> Stanford Law School Page Diego Zambrano >>> Stanford Law School Page Stanford Law School >>> Twitter/X Stanford Lawyer Magazine >>> Twitter/X   (00:00:00) Welcome to Anne Joseph O'Connell (00:01:32) What "Actings" are, and why they matter (00:02:53) The U.S. Attorney job, explained (00:07:09) Three ways to fill a vacant U.S. Attorney seat (00:11:01) The courts say no to post-vacancy "first assistants" (00:12:37) Ripple effects across the federal government (00:14:07) Does this undercut the Unitary Executive? (00:15:24) A legislative fix, and the delegation workaround (00:16:31) Circuit courts shut down delegation (00:18:22) Trump v. Slaughter and the power to fire (00:19:12) The Librarian of Congress and the Register of Copyrights (00:22:26) Where's the line on presidential removal power? (00:27:02) Closing thoughts  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.