Dem
47
GOP
53
Everyone knows the old conundrum: If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Now, it would seem we have the Trump administration corollary to that: If someone quits a job they never legally held, did they really resign?
The person in question here is Alina Habba, who has been pretending to be the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey since March of this year. We've gone through the somewhat complicated rules before, and so won't repeat ourselves, but her appointment was clearly not legal without Senate approval, and that approval was not forthcoming. First, a judge appointed by Barack Obama said the appointment was invalid. Then, a Third Circuit panel made up of two George W. Bush appointees and one Joe Biden appointee said the same about a week ago. And so yesterday, Habba announced she was resigning, and will go serve "Attorney General" Pam Bondi as a special advisor.
Bondi and Habba said they still plan to appeal the Third Circuit's decision, and that Habba might therefore return to... well, a job she never actually held in her own right. One wonders if the White House will keep beating its head against this particular rock, or if it will quietly drop the matter. In the end, if the administration can use bookkeeping tricks to get around Senate confirmation of nominees, then a big chunk of the Constitution goes right in the garbage. That's a bridge too far for even THIS Supreme Court, right? Right? RIGHT?
The good news here, beyond the fact that the obviously unqualified AND corrupt Habba is no longer exercising meaningful power, is that some guardrails are still holding, and that there are some lines that even this administration won't cross. At least, not yet. (Z)