Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/16/trumps-bureau-of-land-management-director-is-serving-illegally-and-refuses-to-leave-his-post.html
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Jon Tester is a Democrat, albeit with a very Republican haircut.
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WTF don’t just the rest of the staff at the bureau just refuse to follow his orders? Lock the doors and don’t let him in.
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So what would happen if your were a BLM employee and simply ignored his order? If you were disciplined for that I guess you could appeal to the MSPB (Merit Systems Protection Board) to get that overturned.
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And his I’ll-tie-you-to-the-railroad-tracks facial hair.
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That, or let him in then have the LEOs arrest him for trespassing in an “employee only” area. Or is he too white to be arrested for breaking the law?
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Can’t they literally just arrest him? If he’s breaking the law? The Justice Department has (stupidly, immorally, and wrongly) declared the president above the law, but this guy is just another idiot in a suit trespassing in federal buildings.
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I’m surprised Don didn’t just appoint Cliven Bundy or one of his brood to that position. Apparently they’re just not rich enough.
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Hey, the Federal Marshals know how to deal with a federal lawbreaker, right?
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As determined as Trump and the followers have been to undo Obama’s legacy, there is a much more urgent need to undo everything this administration has done and is still doing.
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The U.S. presidency needs to be severely scaled back and placed under a series of restrictive laws. It’s absurd to run a powerful branch of government solely by customs and conventions, rather than enforceable rules.
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Law and order!
All animals are equal, some are more equal than others.
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Who is responsible for enforcement and why aren’t they taking action?
The justice department probably? And if it’s on Barr to enforce this, we know why he’s not taking action: he believes that the President is above the law (not just this one, but any president). He believes the presidency is a monarchy.
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- The senate issues the following statement “Mr. Pendley, the Senate requests your presence concerning the matter of your official confirmation to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management”
- He appears for his confirmation hearing.
- The bailiff is called upon to arrest him.
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At this point he’s in defiance of a federal court order, so it seems like the judge could hold him in contempt of court and have him arrested by the Marshals.
My gut instinct is that while the Marshals may skew hard toward fascism, they would still get a kick out of arresting the head of a federal bureau.
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Presumably, during the initial legal acting time, he installed top level management that agrees/supports him. They’re happy to go along. Farther down the management chain, they’ll say the direction came from the others.
Does the GA, IRS, or OMB need the justice department to lead this? As noted, justice will clearly do nothing. Assuming the rest of top management is willing to listen to him even if he’s not in charge, I’m not sure what could be done to stop them from taking direction and calling it their own with no boss above them.
However, if he’s getting a paycheck that would seem to be illegal. There’s clearly no reason to pay him for a job he cannot have. Which should mean that someone is on the hook for fraud with the HR paperwork and paycheck. Hopefully, someone much lower in the food chain can bring a complaint of fraudulent spending.
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I’m sure you’re right. BLM employees would still be legally required to follow any orders that were filtered through the chain of command that weren’t directly contrary to law (or possibly regulation). And if all his direct reports are appointees not requiring Senate confirmation, they could be fired for not following orders from him because they serve “At the pleasure of the president.”
This is all there is to say. Past is precedent, and this bodes ill for this admin submitting to any court ruling.
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