An American President is not a king – not even an ‘elected’ one – and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute, but may be constrained in appropriate circumstances, as are present here.
Judge Howell emphasized the limits of presidential power regarding federal officer removals.
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His attempt to do so here is blatantly illegal, and his constitutional arguments to excuse this illegal act are contrary to Supreme Court precedent and over a century of practice.
The chilling effect of this executive order, 14230, threatens to significantly undermine the integrity of our entire legal system.
A President who touts an image of himself as a ‘king’ or a ‘dictator,’ perhaps as his vision of effective leadership, fundamentally misapprehends the role under Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
The President seems intent on pushing the bounds of his office and exercising his power in a manner violative of clear statutory law.