Trump sacks acting AG

[vorlon13]

what the hell was she doing being a toadie for Trump for the last 10 days anyhow ?

[Aroura]

Really, is he just going to govern by silencing his critics?
And still his supporters cannot see the problem....sigh.

---

She questioned it's legality, which is her job. At least imho.

She refused to defend the government in all the suits against the POTUS. Is it not the AG's/Justice Department's job to defend the federal government in these lawsuits? (Genuine question)

Good question.  I honestly don't know if she overstepped her bounds, but she said she questioned the "moral and ethical" bounds of it, not just the legal. 
Should we have officials that do what the POTUS wants, even if it is illegal or unethical?

Maybe TRJF can pop in and explain this to us in better detail, though he's not a constitutional lawyer, he probably knows more about it that we do.

[Tiberius]

She refused to defend the government in all the suits against the POTUS. Is it not the AG's/Justice Department's job to defend the federal government in these lawsuits? (Genuine question)

IANAL but I believe just like the military is supposed to refuse orders which are illegal (i.e. intentional killing of civillians), any government employee can refuse to go through with actions that they believe are illegal.

[Opoponax]

It's within the President's powers to do this. That he fired her is not that big of a deal. The big deal is her refusing to follow a vague piece of work that likely is susceptible to varying interpretations, many of which are certainly unconstitutional, even though it was an Executive Order. The next part of this big deal is the appointment of Jeff Sessions, who will be nothing more than a toadie for Herr Cheeto.

This is only the beginning. Someone here called me paranoid because I said that Trump could do things like this. Granted, I was on about the heads of the FBI and other government law enforcement apparatus', but look, look, look, he just fired the head of ICE today too. What's going to happen when the head of the ATF defies him? That person will be replaced with a goon that will do whatever he's told to do. And what's going to happen when Trump starts appointing judges? There are hundreds of vacancies that need to be filled.

We're so fucked.

[Aroura]

So a friend of mine had a lawyer friend of hers tell her this, and she shared it on FB (I know, i't third hand, but if anyone has something better, I'm all ears).

"The DOJ is supposed to act as an independent, non-partisan entity, able to examine orders and laws, and push the pause button if they see any red flags. The immigration order raised lots of red flags, and had failed in several court challenges already. Refusing to enforce while those serious questions remained was reasonable and prudent. "

In other words, he had no good reason to fire her, and she was just doing her job.

[Jackalope]

This really shouldn't surprise anyone. The AG serves at the pleasure of the president. Sucks, but openly defying policy - or even questioning it's legality, when your boss is a tyrant - is likely to get you fired. I applaud her standing up for what's rights. She had to know that her time as acting AG was limited, but getting very publicly fired is not a way I'd prefer to go.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

what the hell was she doing being a toadie for Trump for the last 10 days anyhow ?

Here's a clue for all who missed it: She was the ACTING AG.  She was not the actual AG that Trump has the power to select.  The Dems are holding up that appointment.

[Aroura]

By holding up, you mean going through the normal procedure. Talk about hypocritical drama queens.
But yes, her time was limited no matter what. It's still good to see her standing for the right thing.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

By holding up, you mean going through the normal procedure. Talk about hypocritical drama queens.
But yes, her time was limited no matter what. It's still good to see her standing for the right thing.

Maybe she will run for President in 2020.

[A Theist]

She was a hold over from the Obama administration. It was just a matter of time before she would lose her job anyway when Trump's appointment took over as the actual AG. Anyway, good riddance, and to anything else connected to Obama.