98-892 A
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
The New Vacancies Act: Congress Acts to
Protect the Senate's Confirmation Prerogative
Updated November 2, 1998
Morton Rosenberg
Specialist in American Public Law
American Law Division
Congressional Research Service ˜
The Library of Congress
Abstract
This report provides a brief overview and discussion of the legislative and administrative
events that precipitated passage a complete revision of the Vacancies Act by Congress in
the FY 1999 Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L.
105-277). The new provision is designed to provide the exclusive vehicle for temporarily
filling vacant advice and consent positions and to prevent undue delay in the President's
submission of nominees for Senate consideration.
The New Vacancies Act: Congress Acts to Protect the
Senate’s Confirmation Prerogative
Summary
Since at least 1973, the Justice Department (DOJ) has taken the position that any
executive department or agency whose authorizing legislation vests all powers and
functions of the agency in its head and allows the head to delegate such powers and
functions to subordinates in her discretion, does not have to comply with the
Vacancies Act, which limits the time during which advice and consent positions may
be filled by temporary designees before a nomination is forwarded to the Senate. All
executive departments have such provisions. As a consequence, during 1998 some
20% of the 320 advice and consent positions in the departments were being filled by
temporary designees, most of whom had served beyond the 120-day limitation period
of the Act without presidential submissions of nominations. The designation by the
Attorney General of an acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in
December 1997 in apparent contravention of the Vacancies Act precipitated
congressional hearings and the introduction of legislation in both Houses to remedy
the perceived noncompliance. Also, a federal appeals court ruling in March 1998
narrowly construing the Vacancies Act further piqued congressional concerns. On
July 15, 1998, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee reported S. 2176, the
Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Although the bill failed to survive a cloture vote on
the floor, a compromise version was included in the FY 1999 Omnibus Consolidated
and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, which became law on October 21,
1998 (P.L. 105-277). The new Vacancies Act rejects the DOJ position and makes
it the exclusive vehicle for temporarily filling vacant advice and consent positions
and provides substantial incentives for the President to send forth timely nominations
for Senate consideration.
Contents
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Substantiality of DOJ’s Legal Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Congressional Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The New Vacancies Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Appendix: The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, P.L. 105-277 . . . . . . . 13
The New Vacancies Act: Congress Acts to
Protect the Senate's Confirmation Prerogative
The designation of Mr. Bill Lann Lee by the Attorney General on December 15,
1997, as Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Department of
Justice (DOJ) revived a longstanding interbranch controversy over the legal propriety
of the failure of executive branch departments and agencies to consistently comply
with the provisions of the Vacancies Act. Since at least 1973, DOJ has taken the
position that any executive department or agency whose authorizing legislation vests
all powers and functions of the agency in its head and allows the head to delegate
such powers and functions to subordinates in her discretion, does not have to comply
with that Act, which limits the time during which advice and consent positions may
be filled by temporary designees before a nomination is forwarded to the Senate.
All executive departments have such provisions. As a consequence, during
1998 some 20% of the 320 advice and consent positions in the departments were
being filled by temporary designees, most of whom had served beyond the 120-day
limitation period of the Act without presidential submissions of nominations.
Several bills introduced in the 105th Congress sought to remedy what was seen by
many to be noncompliance with the Vacancies Act that seriously undermined the
Senate’s confirmation prerogative. Following hearings on S. 2176, the Federal
Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 was reported by the Senate Committee on
Governmental Affairs on July 15, 1998. Although the bill failed to survive a cloture
vote on the Senate floor on September 24, 1998, negotiations between the Senate
sponsors and the Administration continued, and a compromise was reached on a
revision and included in the FY 1999 Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations Act, which became law on October 21, 1998 (P.L. 105-
277, Division C, title I, section 151).
The new Vacancies Act rejects the DOJ position on temporary appointments and
makes it clear that the Act is the exclusive vehicle for temporarily filling vacant
advice and consent positions unless Congress expressly provides otherwise. The
legislation provides substantial incentives for prompt presidential submissions of
nominations, including an increase in the time during which an acting officer may
serve when timely nominations are submitted. But the President’s choices of action
are strictly confined and the failure to comply with the statute’s requirements may
lead to the vacation of the authorities and responsibilities of the office and to
rendering the actions of acting officials void without the possibility of subsequent
ratification. Special provision is made for vacancies that occur during a change of
Administration after a presidential election. Finally, responsibility for monitoring
compliance with the provisions of the law is placed with the Comptroller General.
This report will proceed as follows. First, the legislative history of the
Vacancies Act is briefly described with particular attention to the early understanding
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of DOJ with respect to its intended purpose and coverage. That legislative history
is also examined for clues as to the congressional intent with respect to the
applicability of the Act to DOJ. Next, the development of the conflicting provisions
of DOJ and the Comptroller General is reviewed and explained, followed by a
recounting of Congress’ 1988 attempt to resolve the uncertainty of DOJ’s stance
through amendatory legislation. The discussion continues with a review of the events
that precipitated the most recent controversy and confrontation and the history of the
legislative actions that culminated in the passage of the new legislation, and
concludes with a detailed description and analysis of that legislation.
Background
The Vacancies Act,1 originally passed in 1868,2 was intended to prevent the
President from delaying sending forth nominations for advice and consent positions
which could thereby evade the Senate’s confirmation prerogative, and to provide the
exclusive means for temporarily filling vacancies in covered positions unless
Congress explicitly provided a superseding mechanism. Only two options were
available under the statute: either a first assistant or a presidential designee who had
previously received Senate confirmation could serve for a strictly defined and limited
period. Prior to 1988, the limitation period was 10 days (until 1891) and then 30
days. In that year it was increased to 120 days. An unbroken line of Attorneys
General and Office of Legal Counsel opinions from 1880 through 1977 reflected the
understanding that there could be only one limited period of occupancy per vacancy
(a first assistant’s and a presidential designee’s service could not be piggybacked)
and that a pending nomination did not toll the limitation period.3 These opinions
held that once the time period was exhausted, the office had to remain vacant and the
powers and duties of the office could not be lawfully exercised. The Act was
understood by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to apply in this rigid manner whether
bureau chiefs or the heads of cabinet departments were involved. The only recourse
of a President to fill a position in the event the Vacancies Act was unavailable was
the nomination process or a recess appointment.4
However, since 1973, DOJ has taken the position that the Vacancies Act only
“provides one [possible] method for filling certain positions on an interim basis”, and
that some departments and agencies, including DOJ, “have statutory authority to
assign duties and powers of positions on a temporary basis outside the Vacancies
1 5 U.S.C. 3345-3349 (1994).
2 Act of July 23, 1868, ch. 227, 15 Stat. 168.
3 See, 16 Op. Atty. Gen. 596, 597 (1880); 18 Op. Atty. Gen. 530 (1883); 18 Op. Atty. Gen.
58 (1884); 20 Op. Atty. Gen. 8 (1891); 32 Op. Atty. Gen. 139, 141 (1920); 1 Op. OLC 150,
152 n.1 (1997).
4 See generally, “Validity of Designation of Bill Lann Lee as Acting Assistant Attorney
General for Civil Rights” (CRS General Distribution Memorandum, January 14, 1998)
(Vacancies Act Memo),
reprinted in Hearing, “Oversight of the Implementation of the
Vacancies Act,” before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 105th Cong., 2d
Sess. 62-115 (1998) (Vacancies Act Hearing).
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Act”. DOJ asserts that it has such authority under Section 509 of title 28, which
provides that “[a]ll functions of other officers of the Department of Justice and all
functions of agencies and employees of the Department of Justice are vested in the
Attorney General,” and under Section 510 which permits the Attorney General “from
time to time to make such provisions as he considers appropriate authorizing the
performance by any other officer, employee, or agency of the Department of Justice
of any function of the Attorney General.” It also contends that these “vesting and
delegation” provisions make the time limitations of the Vacancies Act on the filling
of vacant positions inapplicable to the Department. This special authority is said to
date from the establishment of the Department in 1870.5
In the past, DOJ has denied the applicability of the Vacancies Act, relying on
Sections 509 and 510, with respect to vacancies in the offices of FBI Director and
Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, and the Departments of Health
and Human Services (HHS), Education, and Labor, with the apparent support of
DOJ, have adopted the same rationale with respect to administrative provisions in
their own enabling legislation that similarly vests all powers and functions of the
departments in their heads and allows discretionary delegations to subordinate
officers and employees.
.
With equal consistency, the Comptroller General of the United States has
disputed DOJ’s position. The Comptroller argued that the language and history of
the Vacancies Act establish that it is the exclusive authority for the temporary filling
of vacant positions which require presidential appointment with the advice and
consent of the Senate unless there is specific statutory language providing another
means for filling the particular vacancies. Neither the DOJ provisions, nor similar
provisions in other department enabling statutes, which have common origins, the
Comptroller General argued, have either the requisite specificity or legislative
purpose to effect a displacement of the scheme of the Vacancies Act.6
Following challenges in 1986 to rulings of non-compliance with the Act by the
HHS, Labor and Education Departments, the Comptroller General requested that
Congress address the growing compliance problem it was facing. Two significant
amendments were made to the Act. First, the Act was amended to cover all
executive departments and agencies, thereby overruling a 1973 court ruling limiting
its coverage to executive and military departments. Second, Section 3348 was
rewritten to allow 120 days, rather than 30 days, for a temporary designee to fill a
vacancy. The new provision was designed to give the President more time to find a
nominee and at the same time emphasize the centrality and importance of the
Senate’s confirmation prerogative. Thus, if a nomination was sent forward, the time
limitation was abated during the period during which it was under consideration.
Only if the nomination was rejected or withdrawn did the clock start ticking again on
the temporary assignee. In its report, the Senate Committee expressed the belief that
in this manner it was dealing with the interpretative controversy between DOJ and
the Comptroller General. By giving more leeway to the President to find a nominee,
and tying the time limitation on “actings” to the prompt forwarding of nominations,
5 Vacancies Act Memo at 9, 17.
6
Id., at 17-19.
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the Committee believed it made more effective and clear the Section 3349
declaration that the Act’s provisions are the sole means for filling vacancies in
covered agencies.7
A 1989 opinion by DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel acknowledged the Senate
Committee’s disagreement with its “longstanding view that the Vacancies Act does
not extinguish other general authorities relating to the appointment of officers,” but
characterized the Committee report’s explanation of the statutory changes as an
improper and unsuccessful effort to “alter the proper construction of a statute through
subsequent legislative history.”8 The opinion signaled that DOJ would continue to
adhere to its position that certain provisions in agency enabling statutes may trump
the Vacancies Act.
The effect of the application of DOJ’s supersession policy throughout the
executive branch, and consequently on the Senate’s confirmation power, has been
significant. At the Justice Department, 45 individuals since 1981 have been
designated as “actings” in advice and consent positions for periods exceeding the
permissible limitation of the Vacancies Act. The acting head of the Department’s
Criminal Division served in excess of 30 months until a nomination was submitted
on March 13, 1998, and the acting Solicitor General served over 14 months until his
resignation without any nomination being submitted. As late as September 1998
there were three other positions in the Department which were being filled by
temporary designees for which nominations were submitted after the expiration of
the 120-day limitation periods.
Similar situations presently exist in all the other executive departments. For
instance, as of February 1998, 9 vacant advice and consent positions at the
Commerce Department were being filled by actings. Of the 9, 7 had occupied the
offices in excess of 120 days. One had served for three years. Nominations were
pending for 5 of the 7 positions, but none were submitted prior to the expiration of
the 120-day statutory limit. In all of the 14 executive departments there were, as of
February 28, 1998, 64 acting officials in the 320 advice and consent positions, 43 of
whom were serving beyond the 120-day limit of the Act.9
Discussion
The Substantiality of DOJ’s Legal Position
The Department of Justice’s contention that Section 14 of its 1870 enabling
legislation, which vests all powers and functions of the Department in the Attorney
General and allows her to delegate these powers and functions to such officers and
employees as she deems necessary, supersedes the Vacancies Act and permits her to
fill vacant advice and consent positions for an indeterminate period, does not appear
7
Id. at 19-21.
8
Id. at 21.
9 Roger Garcia, “Acting Officials in Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation in Executive
Departments, as of February 1998" (CRS Report 98-252 GOV).
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supportable. A review of the legislative history of the provisions asserted to be the
basis of the supersession does not provide the necessary explicitness and clarity to
support the claim. In fact, the debates on the establishment of the Department in
1870 indicate that the provision said to be the original source of the authority had a
wholly different purpose and did not in any way address the problem of vacant advice
and consent positions. The singular purpose of the 1870 legislation was to bring
order out of the chaos which fragmentation and dispersal of legal authority
throughout the federal government over time had engendered. As succinctly put by
Representative Jenckes, the principal sponsor of the bill, “It is for the purpose of
having a unity of jurisprudence, if I may use that expression, in the executive law of
the United States, that this bill proposes that all the law officers herein provided for
shall be subordinate to one head”.
10
The debates concerning Section 14 make it evident that it was not a provision
designed to override the recently enacted Vacancies Act. Its purpose was purely
administrative, to establish a chain of command and to allow the Attorney General
flexibility in organizing the new department which would have transferred to it a
myriad of new substantive authorities and responsibilities and new legal personnel
from other executive departments, a purpose consonant with the centralization of
control of legal business in a law department. It is not the type of explici
11
t
exemptive provision that would take it out from under general legislation like the
Vacancies Act which was itself meant to be preemptive in nature. Further, the
presence in Section 2 of the legislation of a provision making the new Solicitor
General the Attorney General’s chief (or first) assistant with the authority to act in
his stead in the event of a vacancy in that office, is an indication of not only a
congressional awareness of the Vacancies Act, but of an intent to utilize it to further
its purpose of unifying the governmental law functions in one agency, in this instance
by protecting the Attorney General’s office from potential presidential intrusions in
case of a vacancy. By directing that the Solicitor General act as the temporary head
of the department in case of a vacancy, it precluded presidential use of the alternative
method of filling a vacancy, designation of another advice and consent official from
another agency. The subsequent legislative and administrative history of th
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Department’s authorizing legislation also provides no support to the contention that
the so-called “vesting and delegation” provision was meant to displace the Vacancies
Act with respect to DOJ vacant positions. Similar provisions in the 13 other
Executive departments also lack the necessary clear legislative intent to support a
supersession theory.
The Constitution directs how officials who will exercise substantial authority
under the laws are to be selected. Under the Appointments Clause, Art, II, sec. 2, cl.
2, the President is vested with the authority (and duty) to appoint all officers of the
United States, subject to Senate confirmation, but Congress, by law, may vest the
appointment of inferior officers elsewhere,
i.e., in the President alone, in the courts
of law, or in the heads of departments. The President may also, under certain
10 Vacancies Act Memo at 9-17.
11 See 42 Cong. Globe 3065, 3066 (Rep. Lawrence).
12 Vacancies Act Memo at 12-15.
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circumstances, fill vacancies in such offices through “recess appointments” which
expire at the end of the next session of the Congress in which they were issued. Art.
II, sec. 2, cl. 3.
Over the years, Congress has established a legislative scheme to protect the
Senate’s constitutional role in the confirmation process. The Vacancies Act traces
its legislative origin to a 1795 enactment limiting the time a temporary assignee could
hold office to six months. All subsequent vacancies legislation contained som
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time limitation on temporary occupancy. Congress has also enacted provisions
requiring that filling of vacancies by recess appointments be promptly followed by
submissions of presidential nominations for such positions,14 and prohibiting the
payment of salary of recess appointees who had been rejected by a vote of the
Senate.15
Congress’ historic attention to the protection of the Senate’s confirmation
prerogative accords with the Supreme Court’s view of the high importance the
appointments process has in our constitutional scheme of balanced, separated powers.
The Court has made it clear that “the principle of separation of powers is embedded
in the Appointments Clause,”
Freytag v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 501
U.S. 868, 882 (1991), and most recently emphasized that the Clause “is more than
a matter of `etiquette or protocol’, it is among the significant structural safeguards of
the constitutional scheme.”
Edmond v. United States, 117 S.Ct. 1573, 1579 (1997).
See also,
Confederated Tribe of Siletz Indians of Oregon v. United States, 110 F.3d
688, 696 (9 Cir. 1993)(“The Appointments Clause serves as a guard against on
th
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branch aggrandizing its power at the expense of another.”). DOJ’s position in the
instant situation appears to misconceive the import of the constitutionally mandated
appointment process and the carefully circumscribed roles that the President and the
Senate play in that process.
The Congressional Response
On March 18, 1998, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee held an
oversight hearing on the failure of executive agencies to adhere to the directives of
the Vacancies Act. Witnesses from both sides of the aisle (Senators Byrd an
16
d
Thurmond), a representative of the Comptroller General, and academics, generally
concurred that the non-compliance with the Act was unlawful but that the Act needed
to be strengthened and clarified to make it effective. Senators Byrd and Thurmond
announced that they were introducing legislation to address the problem. Department
of Justice representatives declared the agency’s continued adherence to its position.
13 Act of February 13, 1795, ch. 21, 1 Stat. 415.
14 5 U.S.C. 5503 (1994).
15 The prohibition has been included in all Treasury and General Government
Appropriations legislation for the past 60 years. See,
e.g., Pub. L. 105-61, sec. 610, 111
Stat. 1310.
16 See Vacancies Act Hearing,
supra, note 4.
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Several remedial bills were subsequently introduced. S. 1761, introduced by
Senator Byrd, provided that anyone performing the duties of a position that had been
vacant in excess of the 120-day limitation of Section 3348 would not be paid for any
day that such duties are performed, even if the person performing such duties
occupied another position for which he was being paid. The bill provided that the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget report monthly to the Comptroller
General about vacancies in advice and consent positions and directed the Comptroller
General to report when the 120-day period had been exceeded to the Congress, the
President, the Treasury Secretary, and the Office of Personnel Management. The
Vacancies Act was deemed to have superseded any other provision of law unless that
law expressly provided that it supersedes the Act. The new provisions were to be
prospective and to have no effect on pending nominations or occupiers of vacant
positions.
S. 1764, introduced by Senators Thurmond and Lott, proposed more extensive
revisions to the Vacancies Act. The bill made it clear that it is the exclusive vehicle
for temporarily filling vacant advice and consent positions in executive agencies. For
another statutory provision to supersede the Act it must expressly have provided that
it was intended to do so. The President could fill vacancies only with the first
assistant of the officer who was serving on the date the vacancy occurs or with an
officer who had received Senate confirmation and was currently serving. If a vacant
office was not temporarily filled in the manner provided within 120 days, the office
was to remain vacant until a person was nominated by the President and confirmed
by the Senate. A validly assigned acting official could serve for 120 days, but if that
period was exhausted without the submission of a nomination the position must
remain vacant until a nominee was confirmed. No one who performed the duties of
the vacant office after the 120-day period had expired could be paid, either out of
monies appropriated for the vacant position or for the position the assignee occupied
while performing such duties. The heads of all executive departments and agencies
were required to report vacancies in advice and consent positions upon their
occurrence to the Comptroller General, and if the Comptroller General determined
that the 120-day period had passed without submission of a nomination, he was
required to report that determination to the Congress, the President, the Secretary of
the Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management. The bill was to apply
prospectively to vacancies that occurred after enactment.
H.R. 3420, introduced by Representative Hyde and 12 others, would have
amended Section 510 of title 28 to reject the applicability of Justice’s “vesting and
delegation” theory to itself, and specifically make the Vacancies Act applicable to the
Department. It also provide that if the 120-day period of the Act lapse without the
submission of a nominee for a Department vacancy, the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia would appoint an acting official for the vacant
position who would serve until the vacancy was filled, but the court could not
appoint a current nominee or a person who had previously served as an acting official
under the terms of the Vacancies Act.
Following the March hearing, Chairman Thompson introduced his own
legislative proposal. S. 2176, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, was
introduced in the Senate on June 16, 1998 by Senators Thompson, Byrd, Thurmond,
Lott and Roth. The bill, as amended, was reported by the Senate Committee on
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Governmental Affairs on July 15, 1998. S. 2176 made clear that the Vacancies Act
17
was to apply to all positions in executive agencies requiring Senate confirmation
(except for positions in independent regulatory agencies and other boards and
commissions, and for approximately 40 positions, including that of Attorney General,
that may be temporarily filled under other specific statutes). The bill repudiated the
contention of the Department of Justice that the head of a department may
temporarily fill a position under a law authorizing that head to delegate or reassign
duties among other officers in the department. A person would have been prohibited
from serving as an acting officer if: (1) that person was serving as a first assistant
when the incumbent of the position resigned or was unable to continue to serve; (2)
during the 365-day period preceding the appointment, such person served as first
assistant for less than 180 days; and (3) the President nominates that person for the
position. The bill extended from 120 to 150 days the time period that an acting
officer might serve, and would have extended that period for another 150 days if a
nomination were submitted. If a nomination was not submitted within 150 days of
the vacancy, however, then the office would remain vacant, and the duties of the
office could be performed only by the head of the agency. Any action taken by an
acting officer in violation of these provisions would be invalid, and no one would be
permitted to ratify those actions. If the President submitted a nomination after the
150 days, an acting officer could be allowed to serve while the nomination was
pending, or until 150 days after it was withdrawn or rejected. Each executive agency
would be required to report to the Comptroller General an existing vacancy, the name
of the person serving as acting officer and when such service began, the name of any
nominee and when such nomination was submitted, and the final disposition of the
nomination. The Comptroller General was to notify the Congress, the President, and
the Office of Personnel Management when the 150-day limit was reached.
The Thompson bill and the Committee Report also addressed Vacancies Act
issues raised in an appellate court ruling in
Doolin Security Savings Bank, F.S.B. v.
Office of Thrift Supervision, 139 F. 3d 203 (D.C. Cir. 1998),
motion for recall of
mandate denied, 1998 WL 549461 (D.C. Cir., Sept. 1, 1998). In that case, the
incumbent Director of OTS, Timothy Ryan, on the day he resigned assigned all his
duties to the then Deputy Director for Washington Operations, Jonathon Fiechter,
who then served for almost four years. No nomination for the office was made
during that period. Two days after Fiechter resigned, President Clinton invoked the
Vacancies Act to designate Nicolas Retsinas, a HUD assistant Secretary, to be the
acting Director. Within 120 days, the President submitted a nominee for Director,
who was thereafter confirmed by the Senate. Doolin Bank challenged the legality of
the initiation of an enforcement proceeding by Fiechter during his tenure. The court
held that the Vacancies Act applied to the situation. It ruled, however, that the 120-
day time limit of Section 3348 does not begin to run until the President acts to
designate a current advice and consent official or a first assistant succeeds by
operation of law. In the situation before it, neither occurred until Retsinas was
designated four years after Ryan left. The court refused to consider Doolin’s
contention that Fiechter was actually Ryan’s first assistant because the “argument
comes too late,” having not been raised in the administrative proceeding below or in
17 See S.Rept. 105-250 (1998)
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its opening brief to the appeals court. But the court commented that since it held that
Retsinas effectively ratified Fiechter’s actions after he took office, “we do not decide
whether Fiechter lawfully occupied the position of Director.” Thus the Court did not
address the effect of Section 3349, which makes the Act the exclusive vehicle for
temporarily filling vacant positions, on Fiechter’s assignment. Further, the Court’s
assumption that the lack of presidential action does not trigger the time limits of the
Act, and the failure to definitively resolve the validity of the Fiechter designation, left
open the possibility of revitalized use of the Justice Department’s “vesting and
delegation” theory, or the assignment of acting officials by outgoing officials coupled
with presidential inaction without regard to the requirements of the Vacancies Act.18
The Senate Committee’s concerns with the
Doolin decision- - that it recognized
a right in the President to do nothing under the Vacancies Act and thereby allow an
agency to designate an acting head for an indefinite period, and also the ability of a
lawful successor of an unlawful acting official to retroactively ratify and make valid
actions of the predecessor that might have otherwise been voidable - - were strongly
voiced in the Committee’s Report, in the floor debate,
19
and in the bill that reached
20
the floor.21
A threat of filibuster in support of the Administration’s opposition to the bill,
and the failure to muster the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture, prevented a Senate
vote on S. 2176. However, a period of intense negotiations between the Senat
22
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sponsors and Administration officials followed and an agreement on a compromise
measure was reached and included in the FY 1999 Omnibus Consolidated and
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, which passed the House on October
20 and the Senate on October 21, and was signed into law on October 21 as Pub. L.
105- 277, Division C, title I, section 151.
1 8 Three months after the appeals court’s ruling, one of the parties discovered documents
that indicated that Fiechter had in fact been designated by outgoing Director Ryan to be the
first assistant for Vacancies Act purposes and moved the court to recall its mandate and
reconsider its ruling. The appeals court denied the motion, adhering to its view that
appellants’ failure to raise that specific issue in either the administrative hearing or in its
first brief to the court precluded the court from considering it. The appeals court also
expressed doubt whether OTS could in fact have made Fiechter a first assistant entitled to
succeed the outgoing director. 1998 WL 549461 at 2.
19 See S.Rept. 105-250,
supra, at 5-9.
2 0 See,
e.g., 144 Cong. Rec. S 11022 (daily ed. Sept. 28, 1998) (statement of Sen.
Thompson).
2 1 S. 2176 provided that the limitation period started the day the vacancy arose and if no
nomination is submitted within that period the office had to remain vacant until a nominee
was confirmed; and that actions taken by persons not complying with the Act are of no force
and effect and cannot be ratified.
2 2 Cloture failed by a vote of 53-38 after an extended debate. 144 Cong. Rec. 10866-69,
11021-39 (daily ed. Sept. 24, 1998).
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The New Vacancies Act
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 completely supplants current law.
The new legislation appears to reflect a variety of decisional factors: the lessons of
the 1988 experience when imprecise legislative drafting allowed the Executive to
evade the Senate Committee’s intended goals; the realization that piecemeal
remediation of the 130-year-old statute would not address and resolve contemporary
problems in policing, through the confirmation process, the effective and efficient
staffing of a responsible political bureaucracy; and the understanding that the
congressional goals of timely presidential submission of nominations and
minimization of the period during which unconfirmed acting officials serve in key
positions meant to be politically responsible and responsive, had to be balanced
against executive concerns that the vetting process for potential officeholders has
become more complex, difficult and protracted, and that the need for flexibility in
maintaining the continuity and quality of administration during the period of interim
service of an acting official was being unduly constrained by current law. The re-
write appears animated by these considerations.
The President now has three options when an advice and consent position in any
executive agency becomes vacant as a result of the death, resignation or other
inability to perform the functions and duties of the office. Under new Section 3345
the President may allow the first assistant to such officer to assume the functions and
duties of the office; or he may direct a current officer in any agency who has been
subject to Senate confirmation to perform those tasks; or he may select any officer
or employee of the subject agency who has been with that agency for at least 90 of
the 365 days preceding the vacancy and is at least at the minimum GS-15 grade level.
However, a person may not temporarily serve if that person did not, in the previous
365 days, served as a first assistant, or was first assistant for less than 90 days, and
the President submits a nomination of that person to the Senate. Section 3345 (b) (1).
Section 3345 (a) is designed to provide optimal flexibility and administrative
continuity in the case of a covered vacancy. A first assistant may now be either one
who is designated such by law or by agency regulation. If there is no provision of
law or agency regulation designating such a person, and the President deems it
inappropriate to assign an advice and consent officer from another agency to occupy
the office, he may select a person in the agency who has been there a sufficient
amount of time and at a high enough grade level to perform the duties of the office.
The limitation of Section 3345 (b) (1), noted above, is to prevent placing an
employee in an agency simply for the purpose of having him in place while his
nomination is pending.
The desirability of administrative continuity in office also explains the exception
in Section 3345 (e). Where a person is serving in a position for a term of years and
the term expires, he may continue to hold that office (subject to the time limitations
of Section 3346) if the President nominates him for reappointment to that same
office.
Under Section 3346, a person who is serving in an acting capacity pursuant to
Section 3345 may temporarily hold that office for 210 days beginning on the date the
vacancy occurs. The limitation period is suspended, however, if a first or second
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nomination is submitted to the Senate for as long as the nomination is pending in that
body. If the first nomination is rejected by the Senate, or is withdrawn or is returned
to the President, the acting officer may continue to serve for no more than 210 days
after such action. But if a second nomination is submitted within that 210-day
period, the acting officer may serve until the second nomination is confirmed, or for
no longer than 210 days after the nomination is rejected, withdrawn, or returned. If
a vacancy commences during a
sine die congressional adjournment, the 210-day
limitation period does not begin until the Senate reconvenes.
New Section 3347 declares that Sections 3345 and 3346 are the exclusive means
for authorizing the temporary filling of advice and consent positions unless (1)
Congress expressly provides by law that the President, a court, or the head of an
executive department may designate an officer or employee to perform the function
or duties of a specified office temporarily; or (2) Congress designates by law a
particular officer or employee to temporarily serve; or (3) the President exercises his
recess appointment power pursuant to Article II, sec. 2, cl. 3 of the Constitution.
Section 3347(b) expressly negates the DOJ position that the statutory vesting of
general agency authority in the head of any agency and allowing the agency head to
delegate or reassign those vested duties and responsibilities to other agency officers
or employees thereby provides an alternative to the Act's otherwise exclusive means
of temporarily filling vacant positions.
Section 3348 provides that if an officer or employee is not temporarily serving
in accordance with Sections 3345, 3346 and 3347, the office must remain vacant; but
if it is an office other than the head of an agency, the head of the agency may perform
the duties and functions of that office. Thus, if the President submits no nomination
for an office during the 210-day period from the date of the commencement of a
vacancy, the options available under the Act can no longer be utilized. Or, if the
options provided under the Act are exhausted, only the nomination process or a
recess appointment are available to the President. Further, if an action is taken by a
person who is not qualified to act because he has not met the requirements of
Sections 3345, 3346 or 3347, such actions are deemed by Section 3348(d)(1) as of
no force or effect and may not be ratified in the future, except by an act of Congress.
See Section 3348(d)(2). Section 3348 effectively overrules the contrary rulings and
indications of the
Doolin case.
Section 3349 directs the Comptroller General of the United States to monitor
executive administration of the Act. The head of every executive agency must notify
the Comptroller General of each covered vacancy as soon as it occurs, the name of
the acting officer serving in the vacant position, the name of the presidential nominee
for the vacant position, and the date of any rejection, withdrawal or return of a
nomination. If the Comptroller General determines that a person is serving longer
than the 210 day limitation and its applicable exceptions, he is to report his
determination of that fact to the specified House and Senate Committees, the
President, and the Office of Personnel Management.
Special provision is made for vacancies that occur during the transition to a new
administration after a presidential election. Under Section 3349a, for any vacancy
that exists in the 60-day period after inauguration day, the 210-day limitation period
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begins either 90 days after inauguration day or 90 days after the date which the
vacancy occurs.
The new Act does not apply to statutory provisions that authorize an
officeholder to continue to serve in office after the expiration of the term for which
the person was appointed or until a successor is appointed or a specified period of
time has expired,
i.e., so-called "holdover" provisions. Section 3349b. The Act also
does not apply to advice and consent officers on boards, commissions or similar
entities that are composed of multiple members and govern independent
establishments or government corporations; the commissioners of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission; members of the Surface Transportation Board; or Article
I judges. Section 3349c.
Section 3349d provides that written notification by the President to the Senate
that a nomination will be submitted to the Senate after a recess or an adjournment of
more than 15 days is deemed to be a nomination for the purposes of Sections 3345
through 3349c of the Act if the notification contains the name of the nominee and the
office to which he is to be nominated. But if the nomination is not actually submitted
within two days after the end of such recess or adjournment, the nomination will be
treated as withdrawn for the purposes of Sections 3345 through 3349c. This
provision would appear to be an encouragement to the President not to utilize his
recess appointment power.
The Act is effective on November 20, 1998, and will apply to any vacancy
occurring after the effective date. But the time limitations of Section 3346 apply to
any office that is vacant on the effective date as if the office became vacant on that
date. Finally, a nomination for a vacant office submitted after the effective date will
be considered the first nomination for that office even if that person had been
previously nominated for that office.
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Appendix: The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998,
P.L. 105-277
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, Pub. L. 105-277, Division C,
Title I, Section 151, to be codified at 5 U.S.C. 3345-3349d
SEC. 151. FEDERAL VACANCIES AND APPOINTMENTS.
(a)
SHORT TITLE.-This section may be cited as the "Federal Vacancies
Reform Act of 1998".
(b)
IN GENERAL.-Chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by
striking sections 3345 through 3349 and inserting the following:
"§3345. Acting officer
"(a) If an officer of an Executive agency (including the Executive Office of the
President, and other than the General Accounting Office) whose appointment to
office is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties
of the office-
"(1) the first assistant to the office of such officer shall perform the functions
and duties of the office temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the time
limitations of section 3346;
"(2) notwithstanding paragraph (1), the President (and only the President)
may direct a person who serves in an office for which appointment is required
to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting
capacity subject to the time limitations of section 3346; or
"(3) notwithstanding paragraph (1), the President (and only the President)
may direct an officer or employee of such Executive agency to perform the
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functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity,
subject to the time limitations of section 3346, if-
"(A) during the 365-day period preceding the date of death,
resignation, or beginning of inability to serve of the applicable
officer, the officer or employee served in a position in such agency
for not less than 90 days; and
"(B) the rate of pay for the position described under subparagraph
(A) is equal to or greater than the minimum rate of pay payable for
a position at GS-15 of the General Schedule.
"(b)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(1), a person may not serve as an acting
officer for an office under this section, if-
"(A) during the 365-day period preceding the date of the death,
resignation, or beginning of inability to serve, such person-
"(i) did not serve in the position of first assistant to the office of
such officer; or
"(ii) served in the position offirst assistant to the office of such
officer for less than 90 days; and
"(B) the President submits a nomination of such person to the
Senate for appointment to such office.
"(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any person if
"(A) such person is servtng as the first assistant to the office of
an officer described under subsection (a);
"(B) the office of such first assistant is an office for which
appointment is required to be made by the President, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate; and
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"(C) the Senate has approved the appointment of such person to
such office.
"(c)(1) Notwithstandtng subsection (a)(1), the President (and only the President)
may direct an officer who is nominated by the President for reappointment for an
additional term to the same office in an Executive department without a break in
service, to continue to serve in that office subject to the time limitations in section
3346, until such time as the Senate has acted to confirm or reject the nomination,
notwithstanding adjournment sine die.
"(2) For purposes of this section and sections 3346, 3347, 3348, 3349, 3349a, and
3349d, the expiration of a term of office is an inability to perform the functions and
duties of such office.
"§3346. Time limitation
"(a) Exrept in the case of a vacancy caused by sickness, the person serving as an
acting officer as described under section 3345 may serve in the office-
"(1) for no longer than 210 days beginning on the date the vacancy occurs;
or
"(2) subject to subsection (b), once a first or second nomination for the office
is submitted to the Senate, from the date of such nomination for the period that
the nomination is pending in the Senate.
"(b) (1) If the first nomination for the office is rejected by the Senate, withdrawn,
or returned to the President by the Senate, the person may continue to serve as the
acting officer for no more than 210 days after the date of such rejection, withdrawal,
or return.
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"(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if a second nomination for the office is
submitted to the Senate after the rejection, withdrawal, or return of the first
nomination, the person serving as the acting officer may continue to serve-
"(A) until the second nomination is confirmed; or
"(B) for no more than 210 days after the second nomination is rejected,
withdrawn, or returned.
"(c) If a vacancy occurs during an adjournment of the Congress sine die, the 210-
day period under subsection (a) shall begin on the date that the Senate first
reconvenes. "
§3347 Exclusivity
"(a) Sections 3345 and 3346 are the exclusive means for temporarily authorizing
an acting official to perform the functions and duties of any office of an Executive
agency (including the Executive Office of the President, and other than the General
Accounting Office,) for which appointment is required to be made by the President,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, unless-
"(1) a statutory provision expressly-
"(A) authorizes the President, a court, or the head of an Executive
department to designate an officer or employee to perform the functions
and duties of a specified office temporarily in an acting capacity; or
"(B) designates an officer or employee to perform the functions and
duties of a specified office temporarily in an acting capacity; or "(2) the
President makes an appointment to fill a vacancy in such office during
the recess of the Senate pursuant to clause 3 of section 2 of article II of
the United States Constitution.
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"(b) Any statutory provision providing general authority to the head of
an Executive agency (including the Executive Office of the President, and other
than the General Accounting Office) to delegate duties statutorily vested in that
agency head to, or to reassign duties among, officers or employees of such
Executive agency, is not a statutory provision to which subsection (a)(2)
applies.
"§3348. Vacant office
"(a) In this section-
"(1) the term 'action' includes any agency action as defined under section
551(13); and
"(2) the term 'function or duty' means any function or duty of the
applicable office that-
"(A) (i) is established by statute; and
"(ii) is required by statute to be performed by the applicable officer
(and only that officer); or
"(B)(i)(I) is established by regulation; and
"(II) is required by such regulation to be performed by the applicable
officer (and only that officer); and
"(ii) includes a function or duty to which clause (i) (I) and (II) applies,
and the applicable regulation is in effect at any time during the 180-day
period preceding the date on which the vacancy occurs.
"(b) Unless an officer or employee is performing the functions and duties in
accordance with sections 3345, 3346, and 3347, if an officer of an Executive agency
(including the Executive Office of the President, and other than the General
Accounting Office) whose appointment to office is required to be made by the
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President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, dies, resigns, or is
otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the Office-
"(1) the, office shall remain vacant; and
"(2) in the case of an office other than the office of the head of an
Executive agency (including the Executive Office of the President, and
other than the General Accounting Office), only the head of such Executive
agency may perform any function or duty of such office.
"(c) If the last day of any 210-day period under section 3346 is a day on which
the Senate is not in session, the second day the Senate is next in session and receiving
nominations shall be deemed to be the last day of such period.
"(d) (1) An action taken by any person who is not acting under section 3345,
3346, or 3347, or as provided by subsection (b), in the performance of any function
or duty of a vacant office to which this section and sections 3346, 3347, 3349, 3349a,
3349b, and 3349c apply shall have no force or effect.
"(2) An action that has no force or effect under paragraph (1) may not be
ratified.
"(e) This section shall not apply to-
"(1) the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board;
"(2) the General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority;
"(3) any Inspector General appointed by the President, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate;
"(4) any Chief Financial Officer appointed by the President, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate; or
"(5) an office of an Executive agency (including the Executive Office of the
President, and other than the General Accounting office) if a statutory provision
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expressly prohibits the head of the Executive agency from performing the
functions and duties of such office.
"§3349. Reporting of vacancies
"(a) The head of each Executive agency (including the Executive Office of the
President, and other than the General Accounting office) shall submit to the
Comptroller General of the United States and to each House of Congress-
"(1) notification of a vacancy in an office to which this section and sections
3345, 3346, 3347, 3348, 3349a, 3349b, 3349c, and 3349d apply and the date
such vacancy occurred immediately upon the occurrence of the vacancy;
"(2) the name of any person serving in an acting capacity and the date such
service began immediately upon the designation,
"(3) the name of any person nominated to the Senate to fill the vacancy and
the date such nomination is submitted immediately upon the submission of the
nomination; and
"(4)" the date of a rejection, withdrawal, or return of any nomination
immediately upon such rejection, withdrawal, or return.
"(b) If the Comptroller General of the United States makes a determination
that an officer is serving longer than the 210-day period including the applicable
exceptions to such period under section 3346 or section 3349a, the Comptroller
General shall report such determination immediately to—
"(1) the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
"(2) the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of
Representatives;
"(3) the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House of
Representatives;
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"(4) the appropriate committees of jurisdiction of the Senate and House of
Representatives;
"(5) the President; and
"(6) the Office of Personnel Management.
"§3349a. Presidential inaugural transitions
"(a) In this section, the term 'transitional inauguration day' means the date on
which any person swears or affirms the oath of office as President, if such person is
not the President on the date preceding the date of swearing or affirming such oath
of office.
"(b) With respect to any vacancy that exists during the 60-day period beginning
on a transitional inauguration day, the 210-day period under section 3346 or 3348
shall be deemed to begin on the later of the date occurring—
"(1) 90 days after such transitional inauguration day; or
"(2) 90 days after the date on which the vacancy occurs.
"§3349b. Holdover provisions
"Sections 3345 through 3349a shall not be construed to affect any statute that
authorizes a person to continue to serve in any office-
"(1) after the expiration of the term for which such person is appointed;
and
"(2) until a successor is appointed or a specified period of time has
expired.
"'§3349c. Exclusion of certain officers
"Sections 3345 through 3349b shall not apply to-
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"(1) any member who is appointed by the President, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate to any board, commission, or similar entity
that-
"(A) is composed of multiple members; and
"(B) governs an independent establishment or Government
corporation;
"(2) any commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;
"(3) any member of the Surface Transportation Board; or
"(4) any judge appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to a court constituted under article I of the United States
Constitution.
"§3349d. Notification of intent to nominate during certain recesses or
adjournments
"(a) The submission to the Senate, during a recess or adjournment of the Senate
in excess of 15 days, of a written notification by the President of the President's
intention to submit a nomination after the recess or adjournment shall be considered
a nomination for purposes of sections 3345 through 3349c if such notification
contains the name of the proposed nominee and the office for which the person is
nominated.
"(b) If the President does not submit a nomination of the person named under
subsection (a) within 2 days after the end of such recess or adjournment, effective
after such second day the notification considered a nomination under subsection (a)
shall be treated as a withdrawn nomination for purposes of sections 3345 through
3349c.
(c)
TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT
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(1)
TABLE OF SECTIONS.-The table of sections for chapter 33 of title
5, United States Code, is amended by striking the matter relating to subchapter
III and inserting the following:
"SUBCHAPTER III-DETAILS, VACANCIES, AND
APPOINTMENTS
"3341. Details; within Executive or military departments.
"[3342. Repealed.]
"3343.
Details; to international organization.
"3344.
Details; administrative law judges.
"3345.
Acting officer.
"3346. Time limitation.
"3347. Exclusivity.
"3348. Vacant office.
"3349. Reporting of vacancies.
"3349a. Presidential inaugural transitions.
"3349b. Holdover provisions relating to certain independent establishments.
"3349c. Exclusion of certain officers.
"3349d. Notification of intent to nominate during certain recesses or
adjournments.
(2) SUBCHAPTER HEADING.-The subchapter heading for subchapter III of
chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
"SUBCHAPTER III-DETAILS, VACANCIES, AND APPOINTMENTS".
(d) EFFECTIVE DA TE AND APPLICATION -
(1)
EFFECTIVE DATE.-Subject to paragraph (2), this section and the
amendments made by this section shall take effect 30 days after the date of
enactment of this section.
(2)
APPLICATION.-
(A) IN GENERAL.-This section shall apply to any office that becomes vacant
after the effective date of this section.
(B)
IMMEDIATE APPLICATION OF TIME LIMITATION.-
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for any office vacant on the effective date
of this section, the time limitations under section 3346 of title 5, United States
Code (as amended by this section) shall apply to such office. Such time
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limitations shall apply as though such office first became vacant on the effective
date of this section.
(C) CERTAIN NOMINATIONS.-If the President submits to the Senate the
nomination of any person after the effective date of this section for an office for
which such person had been nominated before such date, the next nomination
of such person after such date shall be considered a first nomination of such
person to that office for purposes of sections 3345 through 3349 and section
3349d of title 5, United States Code (as amended by this section).