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President Donald Trump was already struggling to fill hundreds of top legal jobs throughout the federal government.
Over the past two weeks, that task became exponentially more difficult, according to top GOP lawyers.
Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey and the subsequent string of allegations — from Trump demanding a pledge of loyalty from Comey and pressuring him to ease off a probe into his former aide, to revelations that Trump trashed Comey as a “nut job” in an Oval Office meeting with top Russian officials — have narrowed the ranks of people willing to serve.
“They were dealing with a pool that had already shrunk and, now, of course, some people will be avoiding it like the plague,” said one well-connected GOP lawyer who held a top-level post in President George W. Bush’s administration and asked not to be named. “The lesser-known folks are wondering if they’re going to take a huge reputational hit if the president of the United States starts tweeting about them. … There’s definitely some poisoning of the well going on in terms of who would take a job at this point.”
I call bs on this story. My father used to be a Federal Prosecutor in NY's Eastern District. Most want to advance as high as they can. They are lined up to take whatever top positions they can. Again typical garbage story. Unnamed source. I don't believe a word of it. Get high enough in these positions that when you leave you command outrageous sums of money in the outside world. PS I am not attacking you however I am attacking the article.
Once again, a story based on primarily anonymous sources from the Press.
“They were dealing with a pool that had already shrunk and, now, of course, some people will be avoiding it like the plague,” said one well-connected GOP lawyer who held a top-level post in President George W. Bush’s administration and asked not to be named.
“You’re talking about very high-level jobs. All these jobs are very high-level jobs,” said the adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The bottom line is there’s a small universe of people who are eligible, and so, naturally, you are going to see repeat names appearing.”
“With some of these positions that are still open, it’s just there aren’t a lot of people who want those jobs, like OJP [the grant-making Office of Justice Programs] or Civil Rights,” the person close to the process said.
A person who did give his name said:
“There are people who’d give their eye teeth for senior DOJ positions,” said Sol Wisenberg, a deputy independent counsel in the Whitewater probe and former federal prosecutor in North Carolina and Texas. “I don’t think that’s an excuse for not filling the positions. … There’s plenty of talent.”
You'd have to be desperate to work for those people, but you would think there are plenty of desperate people in "the land of carnage, and the home of the desperate", which is Trumps vision of the nation.
The career guys (and gals) at Justice really don't want to become Sched C employees who can be fired at will. At the end of the Schedule C period, the best they can do is revert to their old jobs or try to burrow in to some other place.
The recently retired guys have to sacrifice their pensions for that period of time they go back to work for the administration. (All my work is pro bono because if I earn more than $15,000 in any year, I start losing a chunk of my pension $2 for every $1 earned.)
The really talented outsiders (read: very successful partners at major law firms, and those who the article was actually written about) don't want to take a minimum 2/3 pay cut to work for a guy who has a perceived history, accurate or not, of firing people on a whim. I know some of them. They won't even consider it.
There are also different kinds of lawyers. To save time, I'll describe just two: Both of them you go see and you tell them, "This is what I want to do: X...Y...Z." In reality, X...Y...and Z are dubious in both law and ethics, but this is what you want to do. (Think: Fire Comey in the face of a federal law that says the Bureau Director is appointed to a 10 year term specifically to prevent the Director from being exposed to political pressure.) The first kind of lawyer will explore the legal ramifications of your request and offer you his or her honest opinion as to its legality and ethics. The second will try to figure out a way for you to do what you wanted to do without getting arrested on the spot.
The guys who don't want to be considered for White House positions are the first kind of lawyers. The kind of lawyer Trump wants to hire are the second kind, for whom most of us have little respect.
trump's firing of Comey and upcoming legal battles over all things Russian has left him unable to fill key positions.
Here is the Senate list of Trump appointments Senate waiting for approval https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nom_cmtec.htm these are the appointees the Senate has scheduled hearings on, note one DOJ nominee was referred to the Senate on February 2, 2017.
Quote:
2017-05-17 PN351 Department of Justice
Stephen Elliott Boyd, of Alabama, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
2017-04-24 PN299 Department of Justice
Noel J. Francisco, of the District of Columbia, to be Solicitor General of the United States.
2017-04-24 PN298 Executive Office of the President
Vishal J. Amin, of Michigan, to be Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Executive Office of the President.
2017-04-06 PN249 Department of Justice
Makan Delrahim, of California, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
2017-02-01 PN58 Department of Justice
Steven Andrew Engel, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
Nominations & Appointments
May 26, 2017
President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Henry Kerner to the Office of Special Counsel
May 25, 2017
Two Nominations Sent to the Senate Today
May 25, 2017
Ten Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate Today
May 23, 2017
President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts
May 22, 2017
President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts
May 22, 2017
One Nomination Sent to the Senate Today
May 19, 2017
President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Kathleen Troia (“K.T.”) McFarland to be the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore
May 19, 2017
President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration
May 18, 2017
Three Nominations Sent to the Senate Today
May 16, 2017
Nine Nominations Sent to the Senate Today
The Senate isn't doing it's job.
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