(Reprint) Electing a Federal Attorney General and a Chief Inspector General | Expanding Democracy

Confirmation hearings for Pam Bondi as the AG ("Pam Bondi Needs to Explain Whose Side She’s On,"  Bloomberg, "Trump’s Attorney General Pick Admits There Is an Enemy List After All," New Republic, "The Perplexing Case of Pam Bondi," New York Times) from the first article:

It’s hard to imagine a more important role in the incoming presidential administration than that of attorney general. President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he plans to use the Justice Department to pardon Jan. 6 rioters, seek retribution against those who have opposed or investigated him, and deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

It’s a good sign that Bondi’s hearing is scheduled to span two days — that should accommodate extensive questioning. There are many questions that deserve answers, but here are five key areas: 

1. Election denials.
2. Retribution
3. Loyalty tests
4. Favoring donors
5. Conflicts of interest

This raises the question of loyalty: Does she consider her client the president, or the American people? And if Trump asks her to carry out an order that is illegal or unconstitutional, will she refuse it? What will be the policy for recusal for her and for other attorneys?

reminds me of an idea I've had for 17 or so years, making the federal Attorney General an executive office elected official with the agency and its reporting agencies like the FBI, independent of the President.  From the NYT:

As attorney general, Ms. Bondi would oversee 94 regional U.S. attorney’s offices staffed by over 6,000 federal prosecutors, plus the F.B.I.; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; and Bureau of Prisons, with an annual budget over $37 billion.

But, more than prior presidents, Mr. Trump has made clear that he expects unwavering devotion from his appointees. And the attorney general more than other cabinet members must at times exercise independence from the president, particularly with respect to criminal charging decisions. The question, then, is whether Ms. Bondi can do that as the attorney general, despite her prior work with and around Mr. Trump, or whether she will enable his worst instincts.

Most problematically, Ms. Bondi publicly supported Mr. Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. After the election, she proclaimed that “we won Pennsylvania,” and she invoked “evidence of cheating” and “fake ballots.” Ms. Bondi also went beyond rhetoric; she worked with other Trump advisers to build a strategy in Pennsylvania to use those false claims to challenge the 2020 election results in the courts — unsuccessfully, it turned out.

The justification of this concept is that law belongs to "the people" and is supposed to be free of bias.  And how the first Trump Administration weaponized the Department of Justice 

It likely will be worse this time.

Our country is too divided to be able to make necessary changes to government structure, like the small state bias of the Senate and the existence of the Electoral College versus the popular vote for deciding the winner of the Presidential election.  This is another item that should be added to that list.

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Published 4/20/21

Today's Washington Post reports ("DHS watchdog declined to pursue investigations into Secret Service during Trump administration, documents show") that the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security rejected calls for some investigations of the US Secret Service.  

While the IG said they had limited resources and other priorities, it is also alleged that they didn't want to do the investigations because it would implicate the Trump Administration.

A big problem with the Inspector General process, and this is true of both Democratic and Republican administrations, although Trump took the abuse to new heights ("The internal watchdogs Trump has fired or replaced," CBS News) is that the positions are appointed by the President and the Executive Branch isn't fond of criticism and investigations of what it does ("Congress may not like when Trump fires an inspector general — but it can’t stop him," Federal Times).

Actually this is true at all levels of government.  They don't like oversight.  In fact I wrote about this wrt education test scandals in DC in 2013:

-- "Why inspector generals often don't seek the whole truth..."

For than a decade, I've argued that the Federal Attorney General, to whom reports the Department of Justice, including the FBI, should be popularly elected, because the law and criminal justice system belongs to and derives from "the people," not the President.

-- "Ideally, the Federal Attorney General would be separately elected," 2017

1.  Elect the Attorney General/Make the Department of Justice an independent Executive Branch agency.  Note though in response, some people argue with justification that this could politicize the legal process and the Department of Justice even more than can occur currently.  

Again, Trump took the politicization of the Department of Justice to new lows, with his chief henchman William Barr, who has always pushed an "Executive Power" agenda ("What to do with an attorney general who disdains justice?," Washington Post).

I have to believe my alternative would be better.  The campaign would definitely raise the profile of law, Constitutional Law, and the federal criminal justice system.

My concept, although just like with locally and state elected Attorney Generals, it's possible this wouldn't work out the way I want it to, is that this would provide an independent check on the abuse of Executive power of the President and the Executive Branch.

What I would do is have this position elected in the off Presidential election cycle, with the idea that this could boost voter turnout in the election cycle that usually suffers a reduction in voting.

Like with the President, there should be a two term limit.

2.  Federal Inspector Generals.  After reading today's article, it occurs to me the same thing should happen with the Inspector General position.  Create a Chief Inspector General and directorate.  Have that person popularly elected, in the off-year election cycle, with a two term limit.

And have all the various Inspector Generals report to the Chief Inspector General, not to their specific agency, and by extension, the President.

-- Association of Inspectors General
-- Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency

The model of oversight would be the various cities that have Public Advocate or Comptroller or similar positions that take their responsibilities for oversight super seriously.

Another model is the California Civil Grand Jury process, where county-specific civil grand juries are appointed for a one year term to investigate local government functioning.  This is a process different from the grand juries convened to consider criminal matters.