President Joe Biden fought a lawsuit brought by two former government officials appointed during the first Trump administration, contesting the legality of their unceremonious firings. Biden won, paving the way for President-elect Donald Trump to wield executive power that the Democrats will end up wishing he didn’t have.
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer and former Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought sought to block their removal from the U.S. Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors in 2021 after Biden took office.
U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that the lawsuit should be dismissed, citing the U.S. Code stating that executive officials are not insulated from presidential removal.
While it’s possible that Spicer and Vought enjoyed their term on the U.S. Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors, Spicer said the lawsuit against Biden had an alternative motive. He wanted to make it easy for Trump, should he become president again, to have the authority to remove Biden’s presidential appointees, even ones who still had time left on their term.
There has been a lot of chatter by Democrats about whether Trump has the authority to fire presidential appointees. Before FBI director Christopher Wray resigned, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin, claimed that Trump couldn’t replace Wray and that he must be allowed to serve his full term, which ended in 2027.
Senate Democrats also rushed to nominate David Huitema to a five-year term as head of the Office of Government Ethics. In October, Biden appointed four new members to the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State, eight new members to the National Science Board, and one to the National Cancer Advisory Board.
Huitema and the rest of Biden’s appointments will likely be a shallow victory for the Democrats now that the Courts agreed that presidents have the authority to fire their predecessor’s appointments. While Biden is busy trying to “Trump-proof” the federal government, he’s likely unaware that his own acts are making that impossible.
It won’t likely be Democrats who Trump has to fight the most during his next administration. Not to say they won’t attempt to deter his plans, but similar to his first term in office, Trump will have to contend with members of his own party who are already trying to prevent him from enacting the will of the voters.
American voters sent Trump to the White House with a clear mandate to fix illegal immigration, foreign wars, and the economy. Despite this, Republicans like Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell have vowed to make it harder for Trump to follow through with his plans. In a 5,000-word piece published in Foreign Affairs, McConnell argued that he’d be an obstacle for Trump and Republicans who work with him on issues like ending the war in Ukraine.
Republicans like McConnell managed America’s decline over the last several decades and seem to be unwilling to let go of the power they collected along the way. To them, the average American is inconsequential and should be ignored. At least, that’s what it seems, considering their refusal to aid the incoming Trump administration.
So, while Biden has taken himself (and his appointees) out of the game, Trump will still have a fight on his hands. He can’t fire McConnell or any other elected Republican who fights his policies. Still, their willingness to work with the next Trump administration will be closely watched by the American voter. It’s now up to us to fire those who ignore our mandate.
