美国国家公共电台 NPR Is Trump About To Be Able To Say 'You're Fired' To A Lot More People?

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Could the president hire and fire civil servants at will? That question is at the heart of a concept that's likely to come up often at Supreme¹ Court nominee² Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation³ hearings this fall. NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg has the story.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁴: Donald Trump⁵ made a career hiring and firing people like Gary Busey on "The Celebrity⁶ Apprentice⁷."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE CELEBRITY APPRENTICE")

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Gary, you're very talented. You're very unique. You're an amazing guy. And, Gary, you're fired.

TOTENBERG: As president, though, Trump has been frustrated⁸ by his lack of control over the bureaucracy. Roughly two million civilians⁹ work for the federal government, but the president is limited by law in his ability to make personnel changes. That, however, could change. The Trump administration has been pushing to put more of these employees under the president's control, and Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is among a cadre of conservative judges who believe that presidential powers have been unconstitutionally weakened over the last century. They advocate a theory called the unitary executive. University of Chicago law professor Eric Posner.

ERIC POSNER: It's based on the idea basically that somebody's got to control these people, including the independent agencies. In a democracy, that person should be subject to popular election. And that's the president.

TOTENBERG: It boils down to the idea that the president can fire, for any reason, the heads of various departments that have executive powers. That would include quasi-independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Labor¹¹ Relations Board. The idea of independent commissions was challenged in the 1930s when President Roosevelt tried to fire a federal trade commissioner¹² appointed by his Republican predecessor¹³. Roosevelt didn't question Commissioner William Humphrey's work performance, just his policy ideas. Humphrey challenged the firing. And in a landmark¹⁴ unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Humphrey's favor, to FDR's great consternation¹⁵. In the 1980s, it was Republican presidents who challenged the independence of some government officers, but they lost, too.

The longtime status quo is that some parts of the bureaucracy should not be under the president's thumb so that they can carry out their duties in a nonpartisan way. University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck argues that quasi-independent agencies are able to do their jobs because they're not subject to the moment-to-moment political whims¹⁶ of the White House.

STEPHEN VLADECK: And if that changes, I think we'd see a huge shift in how the federal government does its job. And, more perniciously, we'd see a, you know, further politicization of just about every decision the federal government is making.

TOTENBERG: Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh has a contrary view. He's criticized the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in the 1935 Humphrey case, though he's not outright¹⁷ advocated its reversal. He has, however, clearly suggested that a president ought to be able to fire anyone performing executive functions based solely¹⁸ on policy differences. The Trump administration is aggressively pushing the unitary executive idea, aiming its legal arrows at independent officers within those agencies. This year, the administration argued that position in the Supreme Court.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the court.

TOTENBERG: The administration won a partial victory. The court ruled that independent administrative¹⁹ law judges at the Securities and Exchange Commission can only be hired by the president or the Commission, not as previously²⁰ had been the case selected on merit-based examinations conducted by the Office of Personnel Management. The court, however, did not go further and say anything about firing. President Trump, nonetheless, has issued an executive order. And the Justice Department has issued guidelines allowing the firing of administrative law judges who essentially²¹ don't follow orders. There are 1,900 administrative law judges across the government who would be affected²². They hear cases on everything from Social Security to stock fraud claims. And there are thousands more administrative judges, including immigration judges, indirectly²³ affected. Legal experts on the right and left see the new rules as an effort to tee up cases for a new and more conservative Supreme Court majority that is more hospitable²⁴ to the broad exercise of presidential power. Just how far down could the new rules granting broad executive control go?

GILLIAN METZGER: That's always been a question, does it go into the civil service?

TOTENBERG: Columbia Law professor Gillian Metzger says administrative law judges have always been seen on a par¹⁰ with civil service employees.

METZGER: So it really does start to raise the question of whether the civil service protections might also be at risk.

TOTENBERG: Just how far would a Justice Kavanaugh go in giving the president the power to remove government officials from high to low for pretty much any reason? Again, Professor Metzger.

METZGER: A hardcore unitary executivist would say all of them should be removable by the president. Whether Kavanaugh goes that far, I don't know.

TOTENBERG: Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

7 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

13 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

14 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

15 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。

16 WHIMS   

虚妄，禅病

参考例句：

• The mate observed regretfully that he could not account for that young fellow's whims. 那位伙伴很遗憾地说他不能说出那年轻人产生怪念头的原因。
• The rest she had for food and her own whims. 剩下的钱她用来吃饭和买一些自己喜欢的东西。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

17 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

18 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

19 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

20 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

21 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

22 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

23 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

24 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。